
Class 
Book 







' 



65th Congress \ 
3d Session J 



SENATE 



/Document 
t No. 452 



WILLIAM JOEL STONE 

(Late a Senator from Missouri) 

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED IN THE SENATE 

AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OF THE UNITED STATES 

SIXTY-FIFTH CONGRESS 
THIRD SESSION 






Proceedings in the Senate 
February 2, 1919 



Proceedings in the House 
February 2, 1919 



PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING 










<.■*"*• 



WASHINGTON 
1919 







D, ©1 -. 

JAN 28 !92J 






TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Page. 

Proceedings in the Senate 5 

Prayer by Most Rev. Edward J. Hanna, Archbishop of 

San Francisco 5 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Selden P. Spencer, of Missouri 11 

Mr. Gilbert M. Hitchcock, of Nebraska 17 

Mr. Willard Saulsbury, of Delaware 20 

Mr. John W. Weeks, of Massachusetts 23 

Mr. William H. King, of Utah 27 

Mr. Duncan U. Fletcher, of Florida 41 

Mr. Henry L. Myers, of Montana 46 

Mr. Hoke Smith, of Georgia 50 

Mr. John H. Bankhead, of Alabama 54 

Mr. Charles S. Thomas, of Colorado 57 

Mr. Thomas P. Gore, of Oklahoma 64 

Mr. James A. Reed, of Missouri 69 

Proceedings in the House 101 

Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D 101 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Champ Clark, of Missouri 107 

Mr. Joshua W. Alexander, of Missouri 117 

Mr. Scott Ferris, of Oklahoma 124 

Mr. Clement C. Dickinson, of Missouri 126 

Mr. Leonidas C. Dyer, of Missouri 132 

Mr. Charles F. Booher, of Missouri 134 

Mr. Courtney W. Hamlin, of Missouri 141 

Mr. Walter L. Hensley, of Missouri 146 

Mr. Thomas L. Rubey, of Missouri 149 

Mr. William L. Igoe, of Missouri 156 

Mr. Harold Knutson, of Minnesota 158 

Mr. Perl D. Decker, of Missouri 160 

Mr. Milton A. Rom jue, of Missouri 164 



[3] 



DEATH OF HON. WILLIAM JOEL STONE 



Proceedings in the Senate. 

Monday, April 15, 1918. 
Most Rev. Edward J. Hanna, Archbishop of San Fran- 
cisco, offered the following prayer: 

O God of our fathers, in whose hands are the lives of 
men and in whose power is the destiny of the Nation, look 
down upon Thy children gathered here in Thy name. In 
the way of Thy love Thou hast again visited this body and 
taken from it one whose power was our glory. Make us 
recognize that with Thee are the issues of life and death. 
Make us submissive to the decree of Thy divine provi- 
dence. Thou alone can bring strength to those who 
mourn. Thou alone can bring peace to hearts oppressed 
by grief and pain. O grant that his loved ones may find 
strength in Thee to bear their loss. Grant that his loved 
ones may through their tears look up to Thee as the only 
source of joy and consolation. 

Chosen representatives of a mighty people, we come to 
Thee in the most crucial day in the history of our civiliza- 
tion. give us light that we may see Thy way among the 
nations. Give us strength that we may follow the light 
whithersoever it may be. Make our laws reflect Thy di- 
vine wisdom and may they direct the issues of the world 
unto Thy greater glory. 

Give strength unto our President and to those in whose 
hands are the affairs of our mighty people. We pray 
above all things that they may have strength and power 
to endure and to fight to the end. Give strength to our 
men who in fields afar battle for our rights. Give strength 



T5] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

to their arms that they may win victory and that through 
victory there may come peace. And grant, O Lord, that 
in the days of peace we may grow in power unto right- 
eousness and unto the glory of Thy holy name. Amen. 

Mr. Reed. Mr. President, Senator Stone died on yester- 
day, at 4.30 o'clock in the afternoon. His funeral services 
will occur at the family residence at 4 o'clock this after- 
noon. His body will be borne to the capital of his State, 
arriving there on Tuesday morning. It will lie in state 
in the capitol building a part of Tuesday. It will then be 
conveyed to Nevada, Mo., for interment amidst those sur- 
roundings where he began his illustrious career. 

In a few days more he would have arrived at the allotted 
threescore years and ten. Over half of that long period 
he had devoted to the public service. He now returns to 
his State the badge of his office, upon which there is 
neither blot nor stain. Dishonor never laid its touch upon 
the life of William Joel Stone. It may of him be justly 
said that all his mature life was devoted to his country. 
Possessing those great abilities which would have enabled 
him to achieve eminence in .any position of life and to 
have acquired fortune, he chose to devote his talents to 
the public welfare and to lead a life devoid of luxury and 
to die without even a competency. 

His love of country was so passionate as to be beyond 
the understanding of many men. His loyalty was so 
exalted that he was not always understood, for all could 
not rise to the sublime devotion which inspired his soul. 
I knew Senator Stone better than any man outside his 
immediate blood kin. I knew him so well that I am sure 
I knew his great soul — the soul of this great Missourian 
and great American. 

Knowing him in this intimate way, I may be permitted 
to say that during the last three weeks constant news from 



[6] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



the battle fields of France telling the story of how our 
lines were being pushed back by German hordes fell 
upon his heart with a crushing force. Of all the men I 
have known there is not one who seemed to me to feel so 
much the weight of anxiety for our cause, upon whose 
lips there was so passionate a prayer for victory for the 
arms of our allies and of our own soldiers. I use no 
extravagance of speech when I declare that could we 
restore to him the life that has passed out and bring him 
here among us clothed in health and flesh he would gladly 
give his life again if thereby he could serve his country's 
cause and bring to it a great and victorious peace. 

At such a time as this and in the days that are to come, 
when the wounds of a bleeding world must be bound up, 
the Senate can ill afford, his State can ill afford, his 
country can ill afford, the world can ill afford his absence. 

Mr. President, I offer the following resolutions and ask 
for their immediate consideration. 

The Vice President. The resolutions will be read. 

The resolutions (S. Res. 225) were read, considered by 
unanimous consent, and unanimously agreed to, as fol- 
lows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep regret and pro- 
found sorrow of the death of Hon. William Joel Stone, late a 
Senator from the State of Missouri. 

Resolved, That a committee of 12 Senators be appointed by the 
Vice President to take order for superintending the funeral of 
Mr. Stone, which will take place at 4 o'clock post meridian to-day 
at his late residence in this city. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect his remains be 
removed from his late home in this city to Nevada, Mo., for burial, 
in charge of the Sergeant at Arms, attended by the committee, 
which shall have full power to carry these resolutions into effect. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these 
resolutions to the House of Representatives. 



[7] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

The Vice President appointed, under the second resolu- 
tion, as the committee on the part of the Senate Mr. Reed, 
Mr. Hitchcock, Mr. Smith of Arizona, Mr. Pittman, Mr. 
Jones of New Mexico, Mr. King, Mr. Kendrick, Mr. Gal- 
linger, Mr. Smoot, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Sutherland, and Mr. 
Fernald. 

Mr. Reed. Mr. President, I submit the following resolu- 
tion and ask for its adoption. 

The Vice President. It will be read. 

The Secretary read as follows: 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 

The resolution was unanimously agreed to; and (at 12 
o'clock and 15 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
to-morrow, Tuesday, April 1G, 1918, at 12 o'clock meridian. 

Wednesday, January 15, 1919. 

Mr. Reed. I ask unanimous consent to have an order 
made by the Senate at this time to fix a date for memorial 
addresses on the late Senator William J. Stone. 

The order was read and agreed to, as follows: 

Ordered, That the Senate convene on Sunday, February 2, 1919, 
at 11 o'clock a. m., to consider resolutions in commemoration of 
the life, character, and public service of the late Senator William 
Joel Stone. 

Mr. Beckham. On January 2 an order was entered fixing 
February 9 as the date for memorial addresses on the late 
Senator James. Owing to a conflict in dates, I ask that the 
order be changed to February 2 instead of February 9. 

The Vice President. Without objection, it is so ordered. 
The Chair hears none. 



[8] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



Sunday, February 2, 1919. 
(Legislative day of Friday, January 31, 1919.) 

The Senate met at 11 o'clock a. m., on the expiration of 
the recess. 

Mr. Reed. Mr. President, I present the following resolu- 
tions and ask for their adoption. 

The Vice President. The resolutions will be read. 

The resolutions (S. Res. 433) were read, considered by 
unanimous consent, and unanimously agreed to, as fol- 
lows: 

Resolved, That the Senate assembles as a mark of respect to 
the memory of Hon. William Joel Stone, late a Senator from 
the State of Missouri, in pursuance of an order heretofore made, 
to enable his associates to pay proper tribute to his high char- 
acter and distinguished public services. 

Resolved, That the Senate again expresses its profound sorrow 
at the death of the late Senator from Missouri. 

Resolved, That the Secretary transmit a copy of these resolu- 
tions to the House of Representatives and to the family of the 
deceased. 

Mr. Reed. Mr. President, I desire at this point to yield 
the floor to my colleague [Mr. Spencer]. 



[9] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Spencer, of Missouri 

Mr. President: In the infallible record of the Holy 
Scriptures it is written: "There are three things that are 
never satisfied — yea, four things say not, It is enough." 
The first of these is the grave, always demanding, con- 
stantly receiving, ever insatiable. 

Again its awful power has been felt in this Chamber 
and ruthlessly it has summoned from service and associa- 
tion and cooperation William Joel Stone. 

In the sad hush of death and in the calm reflection that 
follows thereafter many things are forgotten which per- 
haps ought never to have been remembered and many 
things are remembered which certainly ought never to 
have been forgotten. 

After death the big things, commendable and worthy 
of emulation, in the character and speech and action of 
him who is gone appear like gold from the refiner's fire, 
and the dross of human imperfections, so common to us 
all, becomes alike valueless and discarded. 

Great in mind, great in speech, great in accomplish- 
ment, as was the distinguished Senator from Missouri in 
whose memory we are this day assembled, he was con- 
spicuously great in his loyalty and fidelity to his friends. 

Ingratitude in public life is doubly regrettable and des- 
picable. The small man when he finds himself in the 
possession of the place or the power for which he craved 
is apt to forget the help and self-sacrifice and encourage- 
ment of those by whose efforts his ambitions were grati- 
fied, and he yields easily to the suggestion of indifference 
or neglect in anything that concerns their interests and 
does not directly advance his own. 



[11] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

No one ever accused Senator Stone of either disloyalty 
to his friends, personal or political, or of indifference to 
the things in which they were interested. He was a friend, 
tried and true, faithful and loyal, and in every county of 
Missouri there are multitudes of those who have followed 
his political career in the county, in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, as governor of his State, and as a Member of 
this body, and who constantly believed in him, trusted 
him, loved him, and revere his memory. 

One of the repeated events of the political campaign 
last fall which I shall always remember was the loving 
devotion of this great number of people, most of them 
well advanced in years, who could not speak of Senator 
Stone without a tear, and whose affection and admiration, 
which represented the accumulated growth of a genera- 
tion, nothing could either shake or destroy. He was the 
dominating power in the councils of his party for 30 
years. When danger threatened, when differences of 
opinion became acute, it was to his wise counsel and 
unquestioned party loyalty that all factions turned in 
confident willingness to abide by his decision, certain 
alike of its fairness and its wisdom. 

He had the courage of his convictions. He won his 
political battles even when the odds seemed largely 
against him. He was one of the great men of his party 
in his State and in the Nation. 

The eloquent words which he himself used in his great 
eulogy of Hon. James N. Burnes, of Missouri, in the House 
of Representatives 30 years ago this month, may with 
fitting propriety and with peculiar appropriateness be 
used of Senator Stone: 

He had iron in his blood. He was a dangerous man to wrong. 
He knew how to remember, how to resent, how to revenge. A 
fallen foe or a repentant one he was ready always to forgive. 



[12] 



Address of Mr. Spencer, of Missouri 

Accessible at all times to honorable reconciliation, an open foe 
did well to guard with caution and watch with apprehension. 
He was fruitful of resource, adroit in attack, masterful in de- 
fense, relentless in pursuit. His enemies, whether those who 
had done him a positive wrong or those who had stood as ob- 
stacles in the way of his great purposes, had never any reason 
to doubt that sooner or later an opportunity would come to test 
his mettle. He fought as occasion required, but honorably. Some 
who stood against him, in their most promising periods of ap- 
parent safely, have suddenly felt their foundations sinking and 
seen the fabric of their strength falling about them without com- 
prehending the cause of disaster. Others he has confronted and 
sprung upon with the roar and crush of a lion, impatient of re- 
straint, and swept them away at once. While his enemy stood 
upon his feet to strike and defy, he had in his blood the merci- 
less instinct of battle and in his brain the inspiration of the 
warrior. But when the sun went down upon a battle finished 
there came back to his heart the gentleness of a woman and a 
longing to forgive and be forgiven. 

As an orator Senator Stone was magnetic, forceful, elo- 
quent in diction and in manner, thrilled and thrilling in 
the earnestness with which he felt and proclaimed his 
sentiments. Personal gain had for him neither temptation 
nor attraction. The best years of his life he gave to the 
service of those whom he represented. Efficient and 
painstaking, alert and resourceful, sympathetic and in- 
telligent, he was ever engaged in the duties of his public 
life and had neither the ability nor the time to acquire 
anything for himself. He died a poor man in the things 
of this world. 

Sorrow and joy are mingled together in this memorial 
service. Sorrow because of the vacant place, the van- 
ished touch, the silent tongue, the lost companionship; joy 
in the contemplation of the great things and good things 
which abound in his long life of great public importance. 
We bow our heads in sorrow, but in the very midst of 
grief there springs up with ever-increasing frequency both 



[13] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

gratitude and love for the good tilings that ahide and for- 
getfulness of the mistakes and errors that are forgotten. 
The things that have been wrongly done and the failures 
which are incident to human life let us write them in the 
dew of the morning that the rising sun may destroy for- 
ever the record. The things in which we rejoice and which 
we emulate let us carve upon marble that they may with 
the increasing years survive forever. 

If a man die, shall he live again? 

It is the agonizing question in the hearts of those who 
remain. It is the problem that demands solution by every 
open grave. It is the unspoken thought of every mind. 

Of the life beyond the grave Senator Stone had no 
doubt. Years ago he said : 

This I do know, that there is in me, as in you, a feeling which is 
independent of mere desire, a strange consciousness that is not 
connected with any sense of fear or hope, that there is some- 
thing in us that is not " of the earth earthy "; that is not of this 
mortality, mortal. I take hold of this. 

In the last hours of his life he sent a message to Sims, 
the veteran barber of the Senate, whose love for the Word 
of God and its teaching is known to many Senators upon 
this floor and from whom Senator Stone had more than 
once heard the simple story of the cross. He died on the 
very day when he had expected to again hear this aged 
negro preach, and the message which he sent is character- 
istic of what was running in his mind at the last, " Tell 
Sims to continue to preach the gospel." 

Other things assume their proper place of insignifi- 
cance in the shadow of eternity. Pomp and power and 
wealth and strength are empty baubles when death comes 
into view. It is so compellingly invincible. Its very 
silence speaks infallibly of its overwhelming power. 
Whether it comes without expectation or in the course of 



[14] 



Address of Mr. Spencer, of Missouri 

waiting, it is alike the manifestation of the absolute help- 
lessness of man and of the power of God. 

Once after traveling for hours over the plains and look- 
ing upon the distant hills and valleys and admiring now 
more and now less the changing scenes of ordinary things 
about me I came, almost without warning, to the very 
brink of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado that stretched 
out as far as the eye could see in a continued picture of 
indescribable grandeur. 

Mountains of varied colors were piled upon mountains 
of changing hues, and in spite of their mammoth size 
seemed almost lost because of the far greater immensity 
of the gulf in which they lay — a gulf which the ceaseless 
river, looking like a slender band of silver at the distant 
bottom of the canyon, had cut through the centuries out 
of rock and earth. 

I gasped for breath at the wonder of it. Man was im- 
potent either to create it or to imitate it or to prevent it 
It was like the rising of the sun by day or the queenly 
luster of the moon by night — the mighty work of Omnipo- 
tent God. 

So in this hour we stand in solemn awe before death, 
impotent to delay or prevent. Kings and paupers are 
alike subject to its imperial decree. It is God at such a 
time with whom we have to do. He who " hath measured 
the waters in the hollow of His hand and meted out 
Heaven with the span and comprehended the dust of the 
earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales 
and the hills in a balance." 

Money and rank and earthly achievement, like the froth 
of the boiling cauldron which for the moment is most 
conspicuous, soon disappears and fades away. The en- 
during things — fidelity, loyalty, sympathy, integrity, 
bravery, gentleness — are the characteristics that abide, 
and above them all that simple faith which, like a little 



[15] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

child, accepts the things which God has promised and 
the words which He has spoken. 

I never stand above a bier and see 

The seal of death on some well-loved face 

But that I think one more to welcome me 

When I shall cross the intervening space 

Between this land and that one over there; 

One more to make the strange beyond seem fair. 

And so for me there nothing is in death, 

And so the grave has lost its victory; 

It is but crossing with abated breath 

And white set face a little strip of sea, 

To find the loved ones waiting on the shore, 

More beautiful, more precious than before. 



[16] 



Address of Mr. Hitchcock, of Nebraska 

Mr. President: We have gathered here to-day in mem- 
ory of one who was in public life, with certain inter- 
missions, for nearly 45 years, a record of public service 
and personal sacrifice rarely equaled even in the United 
States. 

William Joel Stone had the force of character, ability, 
and education which equipped him for great success and 
a prosperous career in his chosen profession. Had he 
followed that profession he would have attained all the 
luxuries and indulgences which success in it brings. Yet 
he listened to the call of public service and at the age of 
24 years took up the burdens of public life, which he 
carried, with few intermissions, until the age of 70, when 
he died in harness. 

I have coupled with this public service a suggestion of 
personal sacrifice, and that was characteristic preemi- 
nently of this great Senator from Missouri, for practically 
all his life he lived, as he died, a poor man, content with 
the rather meager salaries which attach to public office. 
There was a quiet dignity, as well as a suggestion of 
pathos, in Senator Stone's attitude toward the world in 
which he labored so long, so ably, and so patiently for 
such modest recompense, when he might, like others of 
his ability, have commanded so much. I feel justified, 
therefore, in speaking of him as one who made a personal 
sacrifice in serving the public. 

Mr. President, before a man reaches the Senate of the 
United States he has as a rule gone through a number of 
severe struggles which have on more than one occasion 
tried his mettle. I doubt, however, whether any Member 
of this body ever passed through a more tempestuous 
career of political struggle in his own State than did 

115654°— 19 2 [17] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Stone 

Senator Stone. He not only went through those struggles 
for himself but he went through those struggles for his 
part}', to which he was deeply attached, and he went 
through them for his friends, for whom he was ready to 
make all sacrifices. He was a seasoned veteran when he 
came here. 

He delighted in combat. He combined a wonderful 
degree of courage with a very unusual sagacity, and at 
all times he exhibited that fidelity to his convictions and 
to his friends to which the Senator from Missouri [Mr. 
Spencer] has already referred. In all these contests he 
showed himself to be a foe to be feared and a friend to be 
trusted. 

When he entered the broader field of national politics 
he took naturally and of right a high position of leader- 
ship. I remember particularly in the great Bryan cam- 
paigns, which began with the mighty revolutionary con- 
test of 1896, William Joel Stone was one of the few old 
honored leaders who did not desert the standard of his 
party but who came forward with all his resources to 
carry out the party decree that had been rendered at 
the Chicago convention. Later, when his party was tri- 
umphant and Wilson was elected President of the United 
States with a Democratic Congress, Senator Stone gave 
to the great constructive measures which distinguished 
particularly the first term of President Wilson all the 
ability and all the energy and all the enthusiasm which 
he possessed. He struggled to bring about that party 
solidarity and party discipline which were absolutely 
necessary to cany these great national measures into 
effect. 

Senator Stone had been a tower of strength in the days 
of struggling Democracy, and he became one of the active 
forces which made effective the great measures that were 
undertaken. 

[18] 



Address of Mr. Hitchcock, of Nebraska 



Mr. President, let us not forget to consider the great, 
final sacrifice of Senator Stone's life. I have said he lived 
a life of public service and sacrifice. I fully believe that 
in the decision he reached, under which he felt compelled 
to separate himself from the dominant will of the country, 
under which he felt compelled to vote against the war 
which the country had decided on, he made that final 
sacrifice which only a strong and courageous man is will- 
ing to make in adhering to his personal convictions. I do 
not know with whom Senator Stone consulted. I doubt 
whether he consulted with anyone. I knew something 
of his decision before he made it public. I endeavored 
to dissuade him from it, but I found he was adamant in 
his conviction that he was right. He felt that he could 
not change his position without sacrificing his self-respect 
and doing violence to his conscience. He could easily 
foresee the storm of criticism which he invited, but he 
was willing to make that final sacrifice. He was ready to 
bear the criticism of the world and the opprobrium which 
enemies visited upon him; he was willing to encounter 
all that for the sake of adhering to what he believed to be 
right. 

Senator Stone, as I have said, was a fighter. He was a 
man who had won his way into public life by adherence 
to his convictions and by devotion to his party. He was 
the " stormy petrel " of politics. The greater the storm 
the higher he rose above it. He was not willing when the 
great crisis came to yield his convictions. He was against 
war and so recorded himself. But when the country had 
made its decision and war was declared we all remember 
how Senator Stone took up actively and energetically the 
fullest and most complete support of all the measures pro- 
posed to make that war a success. 



[19] 



Address of Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware 

Mr. President: My acquaintance with Senator Stone 
covered a period of more than 20 years. Sometimes it 
had been of a close and intimate character, sometimes it 
had resembled that of a casual acquaintance, but from 
the beginning of the period until Senator Stone's death I 
admired him for his courage, for his ability and fearless- 
ness, for his disregard personally of the character of the 
opposition he aroused or encountered. I believe he as 
unhesitatingly expressed his views, his likes and dislikes, 
as any man I ever knew. 

A good many of us recall how once a presidential candi- 
date of our party characterized the section of the country 
from which I come as " the enemy's country." We all 
probably remember the scream of opposition and antag- 
onism in the public press when that expression was used. 
A political campaign had to be conducted in my section 
of the country as well as elsewhere, and William J. Stone 
was asked to take charge of and manage that Democratic 
campaign. He knew as well as any man what effort was 
involved, how unfriendly for the most part would be the 
attitude of the potential forces, and yet, as a duty he felt 
he owed to his party and his country, he accepted the 
work and conducted that campaign so far as it could be 
conducted in a masterly manner, taking advantage of 
every opportunity to further the interests of his party and 
its then candidate with great tact and consummate skill. 
Apologizing to none, currying favor nowhere, but main- 
taining the integrity of the principles of his party in the 
contest in every way, he overlooked no opportunity of 
which a brilliant intellect and tireless energy could avail 
itself. 

It was a great pleasure to me to be associated with 
Senator Stone whenever our relations were of such a 

[20] 



Address of Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware 



character that they could approach semi-intimacy. He 
was a very charming man in his personal relations with 
his friends, and I had the privilege of occupying that posi- 
tion from time to time, broken sometimes by periods of 
absence and now and then by occasions when we had 
somewhat violently disagreed on public matters or on 
questions of policy. Any man who lived with Senator 
Stone, in my opinion, had such periods. So far as I was 
concerned, at least, while courtesy might control him in 
small differences, when anything approached a funda- 
mental difference it was well to be prepared for any 
condition of antagonism that might arise. 

Senator Stone was a strong man and fought hard. 
When he felt strongly, personal consideration and per- 
sonal friendship did not control his thoughts, speech, or 
action. He was undoubtedly a wise, able, and sometimes 
an intense advocate, and on such occasions personal con- 
siderations and personal relations, so far as my observa- 
tion went, had little weight with him. He was a great 
believer in the efficacy of party regularity and party or- 
ganization, and impatient of the actions of anyone unwill- 
ing or unable on ordinary occasions to subordinate his 
views to the opinions of his colleagues when those opin- 
ions were expressed clearly by the majority, and he never 
hesitated, so far as I know, to express to his colleagues, 
whether of his own party or the opposition, his opinion of 
their acts or position, and used no honeyed words to 
soften the asperities which might be engendered. 

For his own part, there were very few occasions when 
he could not bring his own action into accord with what 
he knew to be the considered conclusion reached by his 
party associates. A man of this kind, Mr. President, is a 
useful legislator. My judgment is that either branch of 
Congress is better off the more men of this type are found 
among its Members. Life sometimes is not so pleasant, 



[21] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 



personal relations are often not so agreeable, but no man 
who respects strength and vigor and ability and the frank 
expression of views held by his colleagues can fail to ap- 
preciate the life and character of William Joel Stone. 
No one despised more than he a " carpet knight " in poli- 
tics. He was a leader of men, and led them as com- 
mander of the fighting forces. 

There have been occasions when mistakenly, as I think, 
he assumed positions on public questions not held by a 
majority of us. His attitude was almost invariably mis- 
construed and commented upon in an unfriendly way by 
many enemies, most of whom he despised; but, in my 
opinion, no one could ever properly accuse Senator Stone 
of being un-American or unpatriotic, for no man more 
consistently than he, after we entered into the great war, 
more loyally supported measures intended to strengthen 
our country, to uphold her power, and to bring her forces 
to efficiency and victory. 

Senator Stone was a brilliant man; he was a clever 
man; he was an elocment man; and he gave to his country 
the best that was in him. He has been a distinct loss to 
this body, and those of us who knew him best, even when 
cordial relations were sometimes interrupted, but whose 
appreciation of him survived momentary differences, 
know well that Senator Stone was a strong, able, con- 
scientious American patriot, a great man, and a good 
friend. 



[22] 



Address of Mr. Weeks, of Massachusetts 

Mr. President: The Senate has assembled to-day to 
honor the memory of one of our late and distinguished 
colleagues, Senator William Joel Stone, of Missouri. 
While I did not have the pleasure of the close personal 
relationship with Senator Stone, either in committee asso- 
ciation or long service enjoyed by some Senators, yet our 
association on the floor of the Senate and in other ways 
compelled my admiration of him and his tireless and 
efficient attention to the duties of his office. 

Missouri is one of the very great States of the Union — 
important in natural resources, in its location, in its prin- 
cipal cities, and, more than in other ways, in the character 
of its people. When I came to the House of Representa- 
tives in 1901, as a result of the Republican landslide of 
that year, the political complexion of the delegation from 
Missouri had changed to some degree. I found there, how- 
ever, firmly entrenched in the confidence of their constitu- 
ents several strong Representatives, and notably among 
the leaders in that body two men who had even then made 
their impress on the House of Representatives and on 
the country — David A. De Armond, who at that time was 
a member of the powerful Committee on Rules and one of 
the deservedly leading debaters and Members of the 
House, who came to an untimely end in attempting to res- 
cue his grandson from a burning building; and the other, 
the present Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
Champ Clark, who, with great credit to himself and his 
State, is completing a term of service in that position as 
long as that great office has been held by any man in the 
history of our Government. 

Reing a new Member, with a maximum of time and a 
minimum of responsibilities, I had opportunity to study 

[23] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 



political conditions. Quite naturally my attention was 
called to a State which retained and promoted men of 
such ability and qualities, and my interest led me to look 
into the past and the then present senatorial representation 
of Missouri, only to find that the characteristics and quali- 
ties which had caused the selection of such Members of 
the House of Representatives had been equally evidenced 
in the selection of Members of the Senate from the earliest 
days of the State. Mr. Benton was an important figure in 
a Senate led by some of the greatest men in our political 
history, and his prominence and usefulness served as a 
standard which has been maintained throughout the life 
of the State down to our own time in the selection of men 
of great capacity to represent Missouri in the Senate. 

As a recent example of this custom, Missouri was rep- 
resented in the Senate during the last years of the nine- 
teenth century by two of the most conspicuous men who 
have served in this body — the silver-tongued Vest and 
that sterling militant figure, Francis Marion Cockrell, who 
only recently ended his service in connection with the 
National Government. 

Notwithstanding the great qualities of these men and 
others to whom I have not time to make special reference, 
they were succeeded by one who, in my opinion, excelled 
them all in political wisdom and leadership. Senator 
Stone was for many years a leading figure in this body. 
While I had never heard him speak when engaged in the 
practice of law, he was undoubtedly a most effective ad- 
vocate in civil life. He at least brought that quality to 
the Senate and became the skillful advocate of the in- 
terests of the people he represented and of his political 
party. That he performed that service with great effec- 
tiveness is known to every man with whom he served. 
Those who have heard him will never forget his ingen- 
ious pleas for any cause in the interests of his constituents 

[24] 



Address of Mr. Weeks, of Massachusetts 

or the Democratic Party, although the soundness of some 
of the policies he advocated was sometimes questioned hy 
his political opponents and even by his political friends. 
I have never heard any stronger arguments in such mat- 
ters than he has made in this Chamber, and his loss to 
his State and to his party in this body is as nearly irrep- 
arable as can be the loss of any one man. 

I had kindly and friendly relations with him. While 
an extreme partisan, he was on most cordial terms with 
many of those not aligned with him politically, and I shall 
never forget one incident in my political life which will 
always make me recall his friendly tendencies toward his 
associates. Soon after I entered the Senate I made a trip 
to the West which was largely political in its character. 
This was well known to Senator Stone, and my errand 
was not one in which in any way obligated him to give 
any attention to my visit to his State. Yet when I arrived 
in Missouri he was one of the first men to call on me at 
my hotel and welcome me to his State. He not only did 
that, but he took particular pains to express his friendly 
views about me and my mission to those of my political 
party, with whom he was on close intimate personal 
terms. While I did not learn this from him personally, I 
had ample evidence of its truth in many instances, and it 
showed a most unusual kindliness and friendly disposi- 
tion toward a political opponent. 

Few men have had a longer or more varied political serv- 
ice. Senator Stone served six years in the House of Repre- 
sentatives more than 30 years ago, was governor of his 
State for a term of 4 years, and served in the Senate for 
15 years, undoubtedly having a life lease on the latter 
office. While he had reached an age when men might 
naturally be expected to retire or, at least, modify their 
activities, he continued strong and vigorous to the end, 
and if he had been spared I am confident he would have 



[25] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

continued for many years to have been an important 
figure in senatorial life and in the leadership of his party. 
Senator Stone was a consistent party man. He had a 
sincere belief and faith in the wisdom of the principles 
and policies of the Democratic Party, and to the day of 
his death he never tired or relaxed in his efforts to ad- 
vance his party's cause. While I could very seldom agree 
with him on matters of political policy, I never questioned 
the sincerity of his faith in the doctrines he championed, 
and the vigor and sincerity with which he advocated them 
compelled my respect and admiration. I feel that I am 
expressing the sentiments of my colleagues when I say 
that his passing is deeply regretted among his old asso- 
ciates in this body, and in his death the citizens of Mis- 
souri have lost a representative whose first thought was 
of them, their welfare, and who was a most jealous guard- 
ian of their interests. 



1261 



Address of Mr. King, of Utah 

Mr. President: The eloquent eulogies to which we have 
just listened leave but little for me to say, hut the occasion 
and my loyalty to the memory of one whom I was proud 
to call friend bid me speak. We pay tribute to-day to one 
who was a great American, a tried and proven statesman, 
a sincere and uncompromising Democrat, a leader, a 
strong, independent, genuine man, who in a long and illus- 
trious career established himself in his State and in the 
Nation. 

During the memorable political campaign of 1896 I 
first met Senator Stone, though his name and achieve- 
ments were known to me prior to that time. During the 
campaign just alluded to his qualities of leadership were 
conspicuously demonstrated. Thereafter and until his 
death he was one of the greatest political leaders in his 
party. Later, and when I had opportunity to become inti- 
mately acquainted with this great man, my admiration for 
his ability, sagacity, chivalry, and all those elements of 
leadership developed in so preeminent degree in him was 
increased. When he was called from our midst I felt — 
paraphrasing the words of Burke — like saying, " The age 
of political chivalry is done, and the glory of political lead- 
ership has departed." But, like all men who strive might- 
ily, with undaunted courage, and who contend for the tri- 
umph of the principles in which they sincerely believe, he 
provoked animosities and encountered fierce opposition. 
The path of the strong man, of the bold and uncompromis- 
ing man, always has and always will be beset with difficul- 
ties. This is true in every field of human endeavor. It is 
conspicuously true in the political arena and in all those 
fields relating to governments and questions affecting the 
State. Leadership results from contests, from the con- 

[27] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

flicts which ever will exist among a progressive and virile 
people. 

Senator Stone was deeply versed in the psychology of 
the people; he knew well the lessons taught in humanity's 
volume and had no illusions concerning the fierce and 
continuous struggles awaiting this and all other peoples. 
He was no visionary, and deduced his line of conduct 
from the experiences of the past and his rational and 
comprehensive studies of his day. Some men hecome 
leaders because they are opportunists. They seize upon 
some passing whim or seize the banner carried by an hys- 
terical crowd. Such leadership is false and deadly. It 
brings humiliation to the erstwhile leader and defeat and 
disaster to his followers. Senator Stone was profoundly 
impressed with the view that there is an underlying im- 
mutable law which manifests itself in what we call social 
evolution and which finds expression in the social prog- 
ress we behold in the human race. 

While he regarded society as dynamic and not static, 
he believed it to be subject to unseen but nevertheless 
unchangeable principles. Cause and effect had applica- 
tion in human affairs and in the world's development and 
activities. Believing thus, he sought to understand the 
evolutionary processes finding manifestation in the 
world and to conform his conduct, and so far as possible 
the conduct of others, to these unseen yet controlling 
influences to which all are subject. He sought to ascer- 
tain the motives and purposes of individuals, communi- 
ties, and nations, the conflicting currents which bore hu- 
manity, the causes and effects of individual, community, 
and State action and conduct. These questions he 
studied, and studied thoroughly. In his active and an- 
alytical mind these great forces and questions were 
weighed and balanced. Such study and effort gave him 
wisdom and qualified him for safe and brilliant 
leadership. 

[28] 



Address of Mr. King, of Utah 



His keen and discriminating mind enabled him to di- 
vine the dangers to State or party, as well as to antici- 
pate the plans and purposes of his adversaries. One of 
the distinguishing characteristics of Senator Stone was 
his devotion to his political principles and the political 
party with which he was identified during his entire life. 
This devotion did not result from a desire for place or 
power, but rather from his supreme love of country, the 
form of government under which we live, and the princi- 
ples for which the Democratic Party stands. He recog- 
nized that political parties were essential under our form 
of government, but he believed that political parties 
should exist not for the gratification of the ambitions or 
desires of any person or for mere party triumph but for 
the preservation of the Republic and the liberties of the 
people. Believing that the mission of the Democratic 
Party was to preserve the Constitution of the United 
States and maintain the sovereignty of the States and the 
rights reserved by them as well as by the people, he 
earnestly devoted himself to that party. Merely to be 
successful was not what he sought; he sincerely and 
earnestly desired his country's welfare. Autocracy or 
imperialism in any form was obnoxious to him. His 
political philosophy found expression in the* undying 
teachings of Jefferson. 

Senator Stone always trusted the people. He was vigi- 
lant to oppose power and any movement which sought to 
deprive the people of the States of the rights, liberties, 
and prerogatives which, under our dual form of govern- 
ment, they have reserved to themselves. In his view, the 
Democratic Party was charged with the sacred duty of 
defending the Constitution of the United States and the 
individual liberty of the American people. He was pro- 
foundly impressed with the view that eternal vigilance is 
the price of liberty and that there is no promise of 



[29] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

immortality even to a Republic which recognizes that all 
just powers are derived from the consent of the governed. 
Accordingly he viewed with apprehension any movement 
looking toward a deprivation of the States of reserved 
rights and the assumption of power and authority by the 
Federal Government not delegated to it. 

By many he was regarded as a strong partisan. Strong 
men become strong partisans. Principles which they be- 
lieve in become a part of the fiber of their being; they are 
ready to fight for them; they gladly die for them. But, 
I repeat, his devotion to party was superinduced by his 
love of country. If I were asked to name the chief char- 
acteristic of William J. Stone I think I should unhesitat- 
ingly say it was love of his country. He believed in this 
Republic, in its destiny; he regarded it as a rich benefac- 
tion from an overruling Providence, a patrimony not to 
be squandered but to be sacredly protected; a light which 
in the darkness of the world was to shine to illumine the 
pathway of the oppressed and downtrodden throughout 
the world. I think he exemplified in his loyalty to country 
the words of a great writer, who said: 

Holy is my hearth; 

Holy will be to Thee my house. 

His country was his hearthstone; it was his sacred 
house which was not to be defiled or destroyed. To him 
it was always holy; he desired that to all others it should 
be holy. When I think of Senator Stone I remember the 
words of another, who said : 

I do love my country's good with a respect more tender, 
More holy and profound, than my own life. 

As stated, he believed in party organization, not for 
party victory or party achievement or success but to 
defeat what he regarded as un-American principles and 
to preserve the Nation. He knew that in a pure 

[30] 



Address of Mr. King, of Utah 



democracy or in a representative government— and, in- 
deed, in all political structures — there are contending 
forces, those seeking liberty, freedom, progress; others 
fighting for stagnant or retrogressive conditions. He 
realized that any party too long in power, free from op- 
position or criticism, will become stagnant and finally 
reactionary and oppressive. Therefore he welcomed a 
strong and vigorous opposition party and believed that 
under our form of government the principles of liberty 
could be best preserved through the instrumentality of 
virile, puissant, political parties contending in the public 
arena for supremacy. However, believing political par- 
ties as the instrumentality to bring about good govern- 
ment, he regarded it as their sacred duty to stand for 
moral principles and for freedom and righteousness, 
accepting the view that the Constitution of these United 
States is a visible manifestation of God's providence to 
the world. He felt that political parties were corrupt 
and immoral if they sought mere party advantage or their 
course tended to the undermining of our Government. 

Mr. President, I am profoundly convinced that this great 
man did not regard the Republic as a phantom or an 
evanescent form, but he believed that it would endure 
for the ages. He therefore consecrated his life to the 
preservation of the Republic and the principles of liberty 
for which it stands. He had a profound reverence for 
the fathers and the founders of the Republic and regarded 
political truths as sacred and immortal. He belonged to 
the school of political thought which believes that there 
are certain fundamental principles of truth and righteous- 
ness which constitute the foundation and structure of just 
governments, the same as there are immortal truths that 
are the basis of religion and of the spiritual life. He be- 
lieved with Hamilton that " the sacred rights of man are 
not to be searched for in old documents and musty rec- 



[31] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

ords. They are written as with the sunbeam in the whole 
volume of human nature by the hand of divinity itself 
and can never be erased by mortal power." 

Possessing these views, he sought the faith and teach- 
ings of the founders of the Republic and of his party for 
wisdom to guide him in his tempestuous, heroic, and 
intrepid career. 

Mr. President, another striking characteristic of this 
great man was his sincerity. Carlyle, who philosophizes 
and teaches, declares that sincerity is the chief fact about 
a man. Sincere men, of course, are often wrong; but a 
sincere one, when right, is the safest of leaders. The Sena- 
tor from Nebraska [Mr. Hitchcock] has just alluded to the 
strong convictions which Senator Stone possessed and to 
the fact that when, after serious meditation and study, he 
had reached a conclusion, he was adamant. He followed 
his convictions to the end, regardless of consequences, and 
knowing at times full well that such a course would result 
in denunciation and the most violent opposition. The 
truth of this statement is exemplified in his attitude to- 
ward the war with Germany. Senator Stone believed that 
our Nation could avoid war with the central empires with- 
out detracting from its honor. Doubtless there were many 
reasons which combined to lead him to withhold support 
from the resolution which was the equivalent of a declara- 
tion of war against Germany. Perhaps his sympathy for 
the people — the wives and mothers who would lose hus- 
bands and sons — strongly influenced his determination to 
oppose entering the war. The daily reports of the san- 
guinary conflicts upon the fields of France and Belgium 
brought to him inexpressible sorrow. He grieved at the 
sufferings and sorrows that were overwhelming Europe 
and other parts of the world. He hoped that this Nation 
could avoid entering the bloody conflict, and that its posi- 
tion as the leading neutral Nation of the world would 

[32] 



Address of Mr. King, of Utah 



give it a moral power that could be exercised to pacify 
and heal the contending nations. He knew the horrors of 
war, the sorrows and the trials and the broken hearts 
and destroyed homes which it brings. " Unseen by the 
corporal eyes, but too clearly visible to the mind's eye, he 
could see the great army of the dead, the abandoned, the 
forgotten; the army of cruel tortures and prolonged in- 
firmities, which pursues its fatal march behind what men 
so often call glory." 

But, Mr. President, Senator Stone, as much as any liv- 
ing man, comprehended the aftermath of the war. He 
realized the stupendous problems which would arise 
when peace was declared. He could foresee the unrest 
and disorder, the unloosing of our social, religious, and 
other bonds, and the madness and chaos of the people. 
He looked with dread upon what the tide of war would 
bring to our own land and what its consequences would 
be with respect to our own institutions and our social 
structure. With prophetic eye he saw the picture which 
in part we now behold, and he dreaded the evils which 
now threaten the world. He felt that if we entered the 
war it might lead to an abandonment of the policies an- 
nounced by Washington and Jefferson and Monroe and 
the fathers who gave us the Republic. Perhaps some may 
say he was provincial, but he believed that this was the 
greatest Government of the world and that it should not 
be drawn into entangling alliances or into the great mael- 
strom of European nations. He wanted an American 
character; a great, powerful American Nation, independ- 
ent of other nations, not chained or bound or limited by 
the political structures of other lands and climes. I re- 
member speaking with him shortly before the declaration 
of war upon the part of this Government. He stated, in 
effect, that he was afraid of the future and the effects of 
the great tragedy being enacted in Europe; and then he 



115654°— 19- 



[33] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

added, " I want to keep this Republic as it was handed to 
us by the fathers." I remember that he referred to Wash- 
ington and his position with respect to entangling alli- 
ances, and expressed the belief that if we entered the war 
it would result in a departure from what he regarded as 
the sound and safe policy for our country to pursue. He 
referred to several statements made by Washington, one 
of which was contained in a letter written by Washington 
to Patrick Henry. This morning I found the letter and 
from it copied the following extract: 

My ardent desire and my aim has been * * * to comply 
strictly with all our engagements, foreign and domestic, and to 
keep the United States free from political connection with every 
other country, to see them independent of all, and under the in- 
fluence of none. In a word, I want an American character that 
the powers of Europe may be convinced that we act for ourselves 
and not for others. This, in my judgment, is the only way to be 
respected abroad and happy at home, and not by becoming 
partisans of Great Britain or France, create dissension, disturb 
the public tranquillity, and destroy, perhaps forever, the cement 
which binds the Union. 

There can be no question, Mr. President, upon the part 
of those who knew Senator Stone but that his opposition 
to war was in part based upon his sincere conviction that 
war would bring sorrow and suffering to the American 
people and likewise jeopardize the Republic and endan- 
ger the welfare and prosperity of the American people. 
He was preeminently American. He loved his country and 
he idealized his State. His affection for the State of Mis- 
souri was really pathetic. He spoke the name " Missouri " 
with a love and an affection found in the voice of a mother 
for her child. 

The Senator from Nebraska [Mr. Hitchcock] has just 
referred to Senator Stone's position on the war. Many 
of us differed from Senator Stone in his position taken 
upon this important question. We believed that the 

[34] 



Address of Mr. King, of Utah 



honor of our Nation, the defense of our Government and 
our people demanded that the United States should ac- 
cept the condition of war which Germany had created, 
and that we should cast our fortunes with Great Britain 
and France and their gallant allies in hurling back the 
advancing hosts of the central powers, who sought the 
conquest of Europe, if not the world. But to Senator 
Stone war seemed a great and unnecessary tragedy. He 
visualized its horrors and with prophetic eye compre- 
hended the evils which would follow when peace came. 
But when we had decided for war no one more vigorously 
supported the Nation, the President, and the cause than 
did he. Senators will remember the tense and dramatic 
situation when the resolution recognizing a state of war 
was under consideration in this body. Standing in the 
aisle of this Chamber, Senator Stone, with deep feeling 
and appealing earnestness, gave expression to his senti- 
ments and voiced his view that if we entered into the war 
it would be " a colossal blunder." Then, in simple and 
eloquent terms, he stated his position as follows: 

But if the constituted powers of my Government, the powers 
constitutionally authorized to speak for the people on this mo- 
mentous issue, shall decide for war, and we go into war, then I 
shall cast all doubts and forebodings to the winds, and my eyes 
thenceforth will be blind to everything but the flag of my coun- 
try, borne by American boys through the storm of war, and my 
ears deaf to every call save that of my country in its hour of 
peril. If Congress unfurls the battle flag, however profound my 
sorrow, I will at once stand in salute to that flag, dutifully willing 
and ready to perform any service, to make any sacrifice necessary 
to bring the cause we espouse to a successful issue. 

When the Nation spoke he saluted the flag and followed 
it and the brave and gallant American soldiers with a 
solicitude and devotion unsurpassed by anyone. 

He cared but little for nonessentials, but was firm and 
unyielding when principles which he regarded as funda- 

[35] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

mental were involved. Criticism from enemies did not 
affect him, but the criticism of friends grieved him to the 
heart; but neither criticism nor opposition from friend or 
from foe swerved him from the path which he conceived . 
to be the path of duty. In thinking of him I am reminded 
of the words of Channing when he said: 

I call that mind free which protects itself against the usurpa- 
tions of society, which does not cower to human opinion, which 
feels itself accountable to a higher tribunal than man's, which 
respects a higher law than fashion, which respects itself too 
much to be the slave or tool of the many or the few. 

While not in agreement with him upon all views wliich 
he expressed or positions by him taken, I nevertheless re- 
spected his intellectual honesty, his mental integrity, and 
the motives and purposes by which he was guided. 

Senator Stone was solicitous for the welfare of the peo- 
ple. He desired this Republic to lead the world, and the 
American people, by reason of their ideals, their achieve- 
ments, their devotion to the cause of freedon, to be the 
evangels of a strong and enduring political faith. I recall 
his interest in all efforts to unify the polyglot population 
within the United States. Frequently he talked with me 
concerning the separatist movements which had prevented 
the amalgamation and absorption of the aliens who had 
come to this land. He was anxious for the adoption of 
some plan that would Americanize the alien in our midst 
and enable him to comprehend our form of government 
and the institutions under which we live. Deeply sympa- 
thetic with the masses who had sought industrial and po- 
litical freedom under this flag, he regarded it as the duty 
of the States and the Nation to afford them full opportu- 
nity to enjoy the bounties of this land of opportunity, not 
only material bounties, but those finer spiritual and ethical 
ones which have blossomed, even if they have not come to 
fruition, under our institutions. 

136] 



Address of Mr. King, of Utah 



I repeat, Mr. President, his thoughts were always for the 
people, for their welfare, for their prosperity, for his State 
and its progress and development, and for this Republic 
and its perpetuity. But his political views recognized that 
the prosperity of a nation depends upon the development 
of individual character and an adherence to those virtues 
which are the product of rational conception of the rela- 
tions of the individual to the State. I think it can be stated 
of Senator Stone that his conceptions of what was essen- 
tial to a vigorous and prosperous Commonwealth were in 
harmony with the words of Lecky when he declares that a 
nation is prosperous when and as long as — 

its foundation is laid in pure domestic life, in commercial integ- 
rity, in a high standard of moral worth and of public spirit, in 
simple habits, in courage, uprightness, and a certain soundness 
and moderation of judgment which springs quite as much from 
character as from intellect. If you would form a wise judgment 
of the future of a nation, observe carefully whether these quali- 
ties are increasing or decaying. Observe especially what quali- 
ties count for most in public life. Is character becoming of 
greater or less importance? Are the men who obtain the highest 
posts in the Nation men of whom in private life and irrespective 
of party competent judges speak with genuine respect? Are they 
of sincere convictions, consistent lives, indisputable integrity? 
It is by observing this moral current that you can best 
cast the horoscope of a nation. 

Mr. President, with other Senators I went to the State 
which our departed friend represented in this Chamber. 
I attended the simple but inspiring funeral services, where 
friends from far and near gathered to pay their final 
tribute of love and affection to one whom they had fol- 
lowed for so many years. A deep and profound religious 
fervor rested upon all, and the services portrayed the 
faith, that simple yet mystic and undying faith, which 
Senator Stone had in the life beyond and in the merciful 
eternal Father who guides men and nations. 



[37] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

Perhaps he would have experienced some difficulty in 
his lifetime in defining his creed. He was not dogmatic, 
nor, indeed, could it be said of him that he was orthodox, 
and yet if we accept Kant's definition of religion it may 
truthfully be said that he was a religious man and exem- 
plified his faith in his life. The philospher says — 

That religion consists in recognizing all our duties as divine 
commands. 

Perhaps his religious creed might be summed up in 
these words : 

Religion is a belief in an everlasting God; that is, a divine 
mind and will, ruling the universe and holding moral relations 
with mankind. 

Religion was not with him a metaphysical abstraction 
nor a scientific formula. He did not concern himself as 
to whether it was susceptible of scientific demonstration, 
but it was to him nevertheless something which was real 
and indispensable to man's welfare and social progress. 
It may sound paradoxical, yet I think it is true that even 
men of the greatest intellect and who demand the applica- 
tion of the strictest rules of logic and who accept many 
of what may be called the radical teachings of science 
deny the application of such principles when they come to 
deal with the spiritual forces and the religious faith which 
form so important a part in the life of men and which 
so powerfully determine the character and nature of 
human conduct. And thus it is that men have felt that 
"no form of belief is capable of functioning as a religion 
in the evolution of society which does not provide an 
ultrarational sanction for social conduct in the indi- 
vidual." 

By some it is regarded as a phenomenon that with the 
remarkable utilitarian developments of the age and the 



[38] 



Address of Mr. King, of Utah 



marvelous results derived from applied science there 
should be profound faith in an Omnipotent and Omnis- 
cient Being to whom man is accountable and from whom 
it is contended springs spiritual and moral forces for 
man's advancement. And the astonishment becomes 
greater upon the part of the extreme materialist when he 
witnesses the great number who accept the evolutionary 
principles preached with such fervor and enthusiasm by 
Darwin, Hackle, and Wallace, who gave the contribu- 
tions of their mighty genius to the world. But no hypo- 
thesis or alleged demonstrable scientific truth, no rational- 
istic creed or comprehended or uncomprehended system 
of philosophy has driven from the human heart the long- 
ings for immortality, the faith in the power and the mercy 
and the goodness and the justice of an Everlasting and 
Eternal Father. This faith or belief, whatever it may be 
denominated, is not so much concerned as to whether it 
is logical or rational or conformable to scientific formulae. 
Even if conceded to be ultrarational and incapable of 
being defended by acknowledged canons governing the 
intellectual and scientific mind, it insists, however, that 
the great motive power which has propelled humanity 
forward has been the ineradicable faith in an Eternal and 
Merciful Father, which, in all ages, has glorified the 
human soul. 

He believed in God, the Eternal Father; he believed in 
Christ, the Saviour of mankind. His faith was perhaps 
not the result of intellectual effort or the analytical 
processes of his mind. I do not think he attempted to 
defend it upon the ground that it had a rational sanction, 
but, nevertheless, it was a living, vital thing, command- 
ing obedience to the laws of righteousness, devotion to 
the Everlasting Father, and sacrifice and service— the true 



[39] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Stone 

expression of the Christian life. I think he would have 
said of himself, as was written by another: 

What am I? Naught. 
Nothing! yet the effluence of Thy light divine, 
Pervading worlds, hath reached my bosom, too; 
Yes, in my spirit doth Thy spirit shine, 
As shines the sunbeam in a drop of dew, 
Naught! but I live, and on hope's pinions fly 
Eager toward Thy presence; for in Thee 
I live, and breathe, and dwell, aspiring high, 
Even to the throne of Thy Divinity. 

Mr. President, we regret the loss of our departed friend; 
the Nation needed him, his State needed him, his party 
needed and still needs him. In this hour with the stupen- 
dous problems confronting not only this Nation but the 
world; problems made and forced upon us by the devas- 
tating war through which the world has just passed, his 
services would have been of inestimable value, and his loss 
becomes more apparent. God bless his memory. May we 
profit by the illustrious example which he has left for our 
guidance. 



[40] 



Address of Mr. Fletcher, of Florida 

Mr. President: Within the borders of Kentucky there 
have been born into the world many individuals who 
have lived exemplary and useful lives; many who have 
served their fellow men in marked degree and their 
country heroically, as a whole; many who have met the 
responsibilities of citizenship and have discharged faith- 
fully the duties of public office; many who have traveled 
the road to fame and at its end passed to the other life 
respected, loved, and honored. Among these distin- 
guished sons, whose labors and services were performed 
in large part beyond the boundaries of their native State, 
Kentucky can proudly claim William Joel Stone, who 
was born in Madison County, May 7, 1848. He was edu- 
cated at Missouri University, which later conferred upon 
him the degree of LL. D. 

When he was 21 years of age he was admitted to the 
bar and four years thereafter he was elected prosecuting 
attorney for Vernon County, Mo. 

His mental capacity and physical energy pushed him 
into wider fields. He had a taste for politics and became 
a student of public affairs. His rare tact, genial disposi- 
tion, clear vision, sound judgment, and patriotic impulses 
made him a power in the sphere of political activities. 

He was elected to the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, and Fifty- 
first Congresses. In 1893 he became governor of Missouri 
and gave the State four years of signal service as its 
executive. 

As a member of the Democratic national committee, 
1896-1904, and as its vice chairman in 1900-1904, his wise 
counsel, untiring zeal, and devotion to the cause were felt 
and appreciated. He displayed throughout his career ex- 
traordinary ability as an organizer and his skill and tact 
were equally effective in management. He was elected to 

[41] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Stone 

the United States Senate to succeed Hon. George Graham 
Vest for the term beginning March 4, 1903, reelected in 
1909, and by popular vote in 1914 for the term beginning 
March 4, 1915. On April 14, 1918, he departed this life. 

He had a trained mind of unusual capacity and strength. 
He possessed a gentle disposition, which drew men to 
him in bonds of attachment, lasting and strong. 

He was patient, and at the same time aggressive and 
courageous in dealing with great questions and in debate. 

He possessed in eminent degree the elements of leader- 
ship. His public service extended along two lines— execu- 
tive and legislative. He was equally well equipped and 
efficient in both. The qualities of mind and heart mani- 
fested in these functions, reinforced by broad reading and 
study and thought, found expression in the field of states- 
manship. 

On the great committees of the Senate he was vigilant 
and untiring. In debate, on this floor, he was equal to 
any undertaking, and with a grace and an eloquence and 
power unsurpassed he handled his subjects in the fashion 
of a master. 

Particularly on Finance and Foreign Relations, the 
chairmanship of which latter committee he graced, his 
services were most effective. His manner and character- 
istics were original and peculiar to himself. An attrac- 
tive personality, a wholesome sense of humor, and dig- 
nity of bearing, combined with expressive eyes and fea- 
tures that beamed with intelligence, assured him a warm 
greeting in any assembly, whether it meant social inter- 
course or a relentless encounter with opposing forces in 
some momentous struggle. He exemplified Edwin Mark- 
ham's " Preparedness: " 

For all of your days prepare 

And meet them all alike; 
When you are the anvil, bear — 

When you are the hammer, strike. 

[42] 



Address of Mr. Fletcher, of Florida 

Felicity of expression, wealth of information, charm of 
delivery, and fine presence made us recognize in him the 
magnetic, skillful orator. 

He seemed to treasure no animosities. He was gener- 
ous in his consideration of others, patient and forbearing 
toward those who opposed him, gentle and kind toward 
his associates, and unstinted in his love of those who 
had claims upon his affections. 

Times came when he had to decide upon a definite course 
and the road ahead was not plain and clear. So far as 
I know, he seldom advised with others or consulted his 
closest friends, but he stepped aside with his own con- 
science and judgment and adopted the course they dic- 
tated. 

I may illustrate this best by quoting his own words. In 
the course of debate, February 3, 1915, on the shipping 
bill, which he strongly supported, he said: 

I have found out that whenever a man is opposed to a measure 
he becomes very sure that the people are against it; or, if he is 
for it, he is bold to assert that the people are for it; but I do 
not think that men who assume so much know anything more 
about the wishes of the people than I do. 

The only way I have of knowing what the people want is to 
make up my mind as to what is best for the country, feeling 
confident the people will approve if I am not mistaken. 

He ardently hoped his country would not become in- 
volved in the catastrophe which shook the world in 1914. 
He saw clearly what war meant — the loss of young men, a 
kind of loss which any nation can ill afford to suffer at any 
time; the destruction of property; the burdens of taxation 
upon the people, loomed with all their terrors before him. 
He hoped there might be some honorable way of avoiding 
the calamities and suffering which war involved, even 
when it was plain that the war lord and military clique 
of Germany had deliberately proceeded to "Pour the 

[43] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

sweet milk of concord into hell; uproar the universal 
peace, and confound all unity on earth." 

But when the decision was reached that there was no 
escape for his country, and its duty was to rally its de- 
fenders of liberty and champions of civilization, and there 
was no choice but to meet force with force to the limit, he 
patriotically joined in the effort and supported with his 
great ability and unflagging energy and wise counsel every 
measure and step intended to make victory certain. 

He stated his position with his usual frankness and sin- 
cerity on July 14, 1917, during the debate on the food- 
control bill, H. R. 4961, as follows: 

You know, Mr. President, as every Senator and the country 
knows, I was absolutely opposed to plunging this country into 
this foreign, far-away European war. * * * I warned you 
and the country then that if we insisted upon this course we 
would open a Pandora's box, the multiplying evils of which no 
man was wise enough to forecast. * * * But from the be- 
ginning I have stated over and over again that while I looked with 
horror upon the proposal to involve this country in this foreign 
war, I would nevertheless loyally accept the joint judgment of 
the Congress and the President if they should, acting together, 
declare for war; and from that day forth I have stood stead- 
fastly in support of the dominating forces of the Government 
which declared that war was necessary. That is the position I 
took at the start, and I shall abide by it. * * * I shall sup- 
port the President and the Government in organizing our na- 
tional resources and in using them to the utmost of our strength. 

It was a sad day last April when we realized that he 
would be with us here no more. A personal affliction had 
fallen upon each of us; a real deprivation of the help we 
needed; a misfortune to the country he loved. 

Until our friends go, never to return, we fail to realize 
how dear they are to us. We are left, however, with the 
consolation that memory keeps them ever with us, and in 
the quiet hours we can almost feel " the touch of the van- 



[44] 



Address of Mr. Fletcher, of Florida 

ished hand " and hear " the sound of the voice that is 
still." 

I helieve I would not misjudge him if I made the esti- 
mate I venture to condense. He conceived true liberty to 
mean the privilege of doing " unmolested what the law 
allows." 

And that real democracy means " organized self-con- 
trol." 

And that his conviction was that " out of the heart 
are the issues of life." 

A deep and abiding love of country and a steadfast 
Americanism were the very lifeblood of his strong char- 
acter. 

Hear him from his conspicuous place on this floor, Feb- 
ruary 8, 1915: 

I am for America — our America — above all the world. The 
kind of men we need now and always need are men who stand 
uncompromisingly for America and American rights. * * • 
I care little for the opinions of American citizens who are not 
first and always really, truly, bravely American. 

In the public service for nearly 50 years, to his country 
and his country's cause he gave himself — justifying the 
application of Paul's tribute to the Macedonian church: 
" They first gave themselves." 

The words of Addison's Cato can well be applied to 
our friend: 

Tis not in mortals to command success; 

But we'll do more, Sempronious— we'll deserve it. 

And by his character and life he established such a 
relation between the soul and the Soul Maker that he was 
prepared when the summons came to pass into the un- 
discovered future without dread. 



[45] 



Address of Mr. Myers, of Montana 

Mr. President: It was my good fortune the greater part 
of my life to know Hon. William Joel Stone, and during 
all of my life, from childhood, I heard and knew very 
much of him and about him. It was my good fortune to 
be born and to grow to manhood in the State to which 
Senator Stone rendered unusual service and brought sig- 
nal distinction, the State of Missouri. We had very close 
mutual ties. There were those who were related to me 
who were among his lifelong supporters, ardent admirers, 
and close associates, and who were ever very loyal to him 
and who actively and earnestly supported him in every 
political contest in which he ever engaged which involved 
more territory than the county of his residence; effec- 
tively supported him in every political contest after he 
had ably filled the office of prosecuting attorney of his 
county and had branched out into a larger field of po- 
litical activity. For years the name of Senator Stone 
was a household word in my father's family. As boy and 
young man in Missouri, I often heard him on the stump 
and delighted to hear him expound democracy. His fear- 
lessness and earnestness charmed me. 

I remember when, as a young man, he was first nomi- 
nated for and elected to Congress, I being then a boy. 
When he was first nominated for Representative in Con- 
gress I heard it said that he had a brilliant future and 
that he would make his mark as one of the ablest public 
men Missouri had ever possessed. He was then in the 
prime of vigorous young manhood and had already at- 
tracted to himself and drawn in his train an ardent and 
enthusiastic band of loyal, devoted personal and political 
followers who never abandoned him but who stayed with 
him, faithful and true, through every political contest of 



[46] 



Address of Mr. Myers, of Montana 



his life. When first nominated for Representative in Con- 
gress he had acquired a reputation as an orator, student, 
and statesman which bespoke for him a brilliant career. 
He was then the pride of those who followed his plume 
in the arena of political combat. 

When Senator Stone was a candidate for the Demo- 
cratic nomination for governor of Missouri I was a voter 
and resident of that State and I supported him for the 
nomination and at the election. I voted for him in the 
primary and at the general election. He was my choice. 
By that time I knew him personally and was an ardent 
admirer of him, as man and statesman; admired his 
ability, fearlessness, democracy, devotion to principle, 
and leadership; and admired him for all those qualities 
which made him a renowned leader of men and valued 
champion of democracy. 

In those days and for many years Senator Stone was 
the idol of Missouri Democrats. He had their admiration, 
love, and adoration. They trusted in him and looked up 
to him. They looked to him for leadership. The mantle 
of the renowned and departed Hon. George G. Vest as 
leader of the Democrats of Missouri fell upon Senator 
Stone. He was almost worshiped by his followers. 

Senator Stone had the remarkable faculty of drawing to 
him great numbers of enthusiastic, devoted followers, and 
of grappling to him with hooks of steel a great many very 
devoted and unswerving personal and political friends. 
He was a man of magnetic personality. As a rule, his 
friends stayed with him. In that respect he was signally 
marked as a leader of men. 

When I entered the United States Senate Senator Stone 
had been a distinguished Member of this body for quite a 
number of years and had a national reputation. I was 
received by him with the greatest kindness. He welcomed 
my entrance into the Senate with marked warmth and 



[47] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

cordiality, and when I was new here he showed me many 
acts of kindness and consideration. He did very much to 
make it pleasant and agreeable for me here. Our personal 
relations were always of the most cordial and agreeable 
character. During my service here, until the demise of 
Senator Stone, I was fortunate in seeing a good deal of 
him and enjoyed personal association with him to a con- 
siderable degree. I often consulted him. Our relations 
were fairly intimate, and I enjoyed my association with 
him. At times I very sharply differed with him about 
matters of public policy and national welfare, but that 
never disturbed our uniformly pleasant relations nor my 
friendly regard for him. 

I always admired Senator Stone's intense devotion to 
his political party and its principles. Politically he was an 
intense partisan, and I always admired him for it. He 
was a Democrat because he believed with great intensity 
and fervor in the principles of the Democratic Party, and 
he adhered to them, championed them, and supported 
them on all occasions with an earnestness, enthusiasm, 
and devotion which drew my strongest admiration. He 
believed implicitly in the virtue of his party and never 
hesitated to array himself on its side as a devoted partisan. 
His intense fidelity to party principle was, to my mind, 
most admirable. He was more partisan, I admit, than I, 
but I esteemed him for it. 

Senator Stone was a hard fighter. He never slackened 
nor wavered in fighting for what he believed to be right. 
He was an incessant fighter for the principles of his party, 
believing them to be the true principles of government 
for a self-governing people. Believing the success of his 
party meant the good and welfare of all the people, he 
fought for the success of his party in season and out of 
season. There was never any doubt about where to place 
him in party matters. This I considered a most com- 



[48] 



Address of Mr. Myers, of Montana 



mendable trait, for he stood for that which he firmly be- 
lieved to be right and best. 

Senator Stone was one of the bravest men whom I ever 
knew; brave mentally, morally, and physically. Abso- 
lutely, he did not seem to know what fear was in any 
sense of the word. He would defy anything or anybody 
if he thought he was in the right. His fearlessness was 
one of his distinguishing traits all of his life, and it had 
much to do with drawing to him that devoted band of 
followers and supporters, always back of him and stand- 
ing with him, ever faithful and loyal. 

Senator Stone rendered distinguished service to his 
State and Nation. He was one of Missouri's foremost 
characters, one of the Nation's great men. He accom- 
plished much and leaves much good work behind him. 
To his family he leaves a splendid heritage, to his host of 
devoted friends a fond memory, to his State a career of 
usefulness, to his country nation-wide fame. He had 
some great qualities. As statesman, student, scholar, 
publicist, he had real ability and great accomplishments. 

Senator Stone was an outspoken man. He never hesi- 
tated to speak out what was in him. It was a matter of 
comfort to many of his friends, of whom I counted myself 
one, that in his last illness he professed faith in and 
reliance upon the saving grace of his Redeemer and 
looked forward to eternal life with his Maker. Farewell 
to him, but not to his memory. I take this occasion to 
discharge a sad duty, to exercise an estimable privilege in 
paying an humble tribute to his worth and testifying to 
the pleasant relations that always existed between us. 
May it be well with his soul. 



115654°— 19 -A [49] 



Address of Mr. Smith, of Georgia 

Mr. President: All who knew Senator Stone will appre- 
ciate the splendid tributes that have been paid here to-day 
to his worth, because they will realize that the tributes 
were deserved. 

The entire Nation recognized his great ability. The 
Senate realized his power upon the floor of this Chamber, 
his brilliancy and his logic. 

Those who served with him in committees found him 
there tireless, painstaking, and wise. For nearly six years 
I served with him on the Finance Committee, the detailed 
labors of which are great. No item of revenue bills es- 
caped his scrutiny, and at all times it was his earnest 
desire to let the tax burdens fall where they could be 
borne with the least trial; at all times it was his thought 
to see how the less fortunate in life might have their 
burdens lightened rather than increased. 

I had the privilege for several years of rooming just 
across the hall from him in the Senate Office Building, 
and I frequently saw him. If I were asked from my per- 
sonal association with him to name his two most control- 
ling characteristics I would say, in addition to his mental 
power, that they were his courage and his love. I do not 
believe Senator Stone knew what fear was; he was uncon- 
scious of physical fear, and he had no fear of conse- 
quences to himself as a result of his conduct. He was 
moved always with the earnest purpose of determining 
what he ought to do, controlled by his judgment, led by 
his love. If ever swayed from his mental judgment it was 
by bis love. 

He loved Missouri and be loved all the people of Mis- 
souri. He loved his country and he loved the people of 
his country. He loved his immediate family with a ten- 



[50] 



Address of Mr. Smith, of Georgia 



derness and gentleness that would have adorned the char- 
acter of a woman. He was checked at times in his mental 
action by his love and by his unwillingness to cause sorrow 
or distress to those whom he loved. 

Senator Stone was honest to an extreme degree. The 
Senator from Nebraska [Mr. Hitchcock] has referred to 
the fact that he made sacrifices for his public service. He 
could have been a man with great income at the bar, but 
he gave his time to the public service rather than to the 
accumulation of worldly goods for himself; and in all of 
his long career in the public service never a time did he 
think of a place where he might make something finan- 
cially for himself. The subject of financial gain for him- 
self never touched his life. 

Mr. President, I feel excused for mentioning a little 
incident that touched me very much, which occurred when 
I was riding out home with him within about 12 months of 
his death. We lived in the same section of this city, and 
frequently he rode out with me in my machine or I rode 
out with him in his. One evening, as we were riding 
home, with a glow of delight all over his face, he pulled 
a little piece of paper out of his pocket and said, " This 
is a receipt for the premium on my life insurance policy." 
He put it back in his pocket and called the name of his 
wife, whom he loved so tenderly, and said : " The reason 
I am so pleased that I have paid it is that it makes me 
know she will have this sum if I am called away. While 
I am here I can provide for her, but this gives her some- 
thing if I am called." The amount was not very large, 
but it was pathetic to hear this man of powerful intellect, 
who could have done so much for himself in a financial 
way and for his family if he had turned his thoughts and 
talents in such a direction, filled with joy that this con- 
servative-sized policy was to guarantee to the partner of 



[51] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

his trials and his joys some little comfort when he was 
gone. 

I saw Senator Stone a number of times when he was 
taking the course which was perhaps the greatest trial of 
his life. I had known for 12 months before that period 
how earnestly he desired that his country might escape 
from embroilment in the European slaughterhouse. 
When the time came that most of us felt we could re- 
main out of the war no longer, when the overwhelming 
sentiment of the country justified the action that brought 
us into the war with the German Empire, I talked freely 
with Senator Stone and urged him to vote with us. I 
pressed it on him; I tried to show him that it was his 
duty to himself and to his associates. I knew perfectly 
what controlled him. He talked with freedom about it. 
Up to the last I plead with him. He simply said : " I see 
what it means — billions of debts burdened upon the peo- 
ple whom I love; and, worse than that, perhaps millions 
of our boys lost in France. We can not go into this war 
without really going into it." He continued: "If I could 
give my life and have the sacrifice end there, I would not 
hesitate a moment; but it is all these sons of mothers 
throughout the land. I can not but feel that something 
can be done to save these mothers' sons." 

It was his love for his people. If he could have laid 
down his own life he would have done so without a mo- 
ment's hesitation, but it was the lives of others and the 
sorrow that was to be produced that caused him to take 
the position which he did. But the moment the decision 
was made and the war was begun, on every possible occa- 
sion he stood in his place in the Senate and supported his 
country in every possible way. Others cast the die; it 
had to be; then all that he could do to help to whip the 
enemy and win the war he gave with entire freedom and 



[52] 



Address of Mr. Smith, of Georgia 



thoroughness. That he should have been criticized was 
natural; that he would be criticized he knew; none under- 
stood it better than he; but it never moved him a particle. 
That vote was controlled by his intense love for his people, 
whom he would have spared, if he could, the trials of war. 
He was a great man; a great intellect; but, again I say, 
the two controlling powers of his life were his courage and 
his love. 



[53] 



Address of Mr. Bankhead, of Alabama 

Mr. President : When I came to Washington as a Mem- 
ber of the Fiftieth Congress one of my first acquaintances 
was William Joel Stone, who had served in the Forty- 
ninth Congress. This acquaintanceship ripened quickly 
into a friendship of such enduring qualities as to weather 
and overcome the vicissitudes of a long life. 

When Mr. Stone resigned his seat in the House of Rep- 
resentatives to accept the governorship of the great State 
of Missouri I was enabled, through a continuous corre- 
spondence, to keep in the most intimate touch with him. 
When, as the successor of the great George Vest, Gov. 
Stone returned to Washington and took his place in the 
Senate our daily personal relationship, after an interreg- 
num of only a few years, was resumed. Later, as suc- 
cessor to John Tyler Morgan, whom all Alabamians are 
wont to call " our greatest," and who with dignity and 
rare wisdom for so many years graced this Chamber, I 
entered upon a service in the Senate. From that moment 
until death placed its icy fingers on his heart I was in 
closest, most intimate association with the man of whom 
to-day we speak. 

As a result of this long and unvarying friendship I can 
qualify as a witness who knew him well; and as such it 
is not so much my function to recite the biographical 
and chronological events and incidents of what was truly 
a great career as to bespeak very briefly and very gen- 
erally the real merits of a mind and soul which so incon- 
trovertibly affected the destiny of our country. 

It is my conclusion, expressed not with the tempera- 
mental consideration with which one regards the dead, 
but in solemn, stern sincerity, that Stone was one of those 
mortals in whom the elements so mixed as to produce a 

f54] 



Address of Mr. Bankhead, of Alabama 

great niaD. His gift for adroit leadership came of a keen 
and discriminating intellect, radiating in his speech and 
action the resiliency of a remarkable mind, and of a deep- 
seated, ever-abiding vision which gave him uncanny 
prescience of how the operations of to-day would affect 
the destiny of to-morrow. And thus it has happened that 
less ably equipped men have declared in one instant that 
Stone by a speech or a subtle move on the political 
checkerboard had wrecked the entire fabric of things; in 
the next, with the full light of successful issue glowing, 
they have acclaimed him a strategist of the most excellent 
talent. 

As a rival manager of a presidential aspirant in the 
Baltimore convention of 1912 I was constantly aware of 
the subtle genius of Senator Stone — a genius which but 
for unexpected and unparalleled defection in his own 
ranks would have carved out a notable victory. But when 
one weighs the relative merits of mind and heart, that 
genius can not be compared to that fidelity to trust, that 
allegiance to duty, which prompted him to submerge and 
subdue his own great disappointment and assume the 
post of confidential leadership in the victor's administra- 
tion. For four years, with unvarying faith, he piloted the 
President's legislation through this body, and at the end 
of that time he was found preparing a platform of such 
appealing parts that the people of the Nation, won by the 
spirit of humanity it breathed, were happily induced to 
give the President a second term. 

Senator Stone, being a man of purpose, was necessarily 
a man of opinion. As such at certain intervals he found 
it necessary to think and act for himself. Nothing so 
aptly indicates the sincerity of a man as, when driven by 
honest purpose, he leaves the primrose path of least re- 
sistance and, bereft of former friends, trudges the rocky 
road of conviction. And yet such is perverse nature that 



[55] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

it is against this very type of man that the world, forget- 
ful of past service and the certainty of honest ditferences, 
turns and inveighs with scorn and contumely. 

Senator Stone in the very twilight of his long service 
shared this common fate. When he declined to lead the 
fight for the so-called " armed neutrality " bill he was 
made the target for the darts of learned critics bursting 
with the force of their own erudition — innumerable darts 
tipped with the venom of ridicule, abuse, and slander. 
And yet, while the storm raged, we who knew Stone and 
who differed with him knew also that according to his 
conviction he was right, and that, irrespective of the fate 
prepared, he could have pursued no other course with 
honor to himself. 

For my part, I know that he had reached his conclusion 
after long contemplation; that he took the unpopular side 
when on the other great prestige might easily have been 
gained only because of honest and sincere conviction that 
the unpopular side was in that emergency the side of right 
and justice. And, Mr. President, permit me in this day, 
when the passion of that day has subsided, solemnly to 
express the opinion that much of that bitter criticism di- 
rected at Senator Stone was unjust, unkind, and even cruel. 
And from knowledge of the man I bring testimony that 
that serenity of countenance — misinterpreted as indiffer- 
ence — which distinguished him in that trying moment was 
nothing more or less than a manifestation of a resignation 
which perfectly concealed an inward and permanent hurt. 

He was as some grim stone of the sea on whose surface a 
raging tempest made impress, but whose base it could not 
cause to tremble or its parts to disintegrate. 

Mr. President, I am very grateful to a Providence which 
has made it possible for me thus to speak of my friend, 
who has gone into that peace which surpasses under- 
standing. 



[56] 



Address of Mr. Thomas, of Colorado 

Mr. President: For five and twenty years my relations 
with William Joel Stone were close and cordial. We 
were intimate and affectionate friends. He was governor 
of the great State of Missouri when I first met him. 
Grover Cleveland had just entered upon his second presi- 
dential term. Economic and financial conditions were 
sinister and the atmosphere was heavy with portents of 
an approaching financial earthquake. And the Presi- 
dent's well-known disapproval of his party's sentiments, 
emphasized by his aloofness from the influence and co- 
operation of its leaders and statesmen, justified their 
apprehension of an impending political cataclysm. 

The crisis came in June with the closure of the Indian 
mints to the coinage of the silver rupee. Within a very 
few days thereafter Gov. Stone delivered a masterly ad- 
dress upon the situation. It clearly analyzed the causes 
and foretold the consequences of the panic should these 
causes be ignored or misunderstood and the remedies 
they plainly outlined be rejected. His message to the 
people was that of a clear-visioned, farseeing statesman. 
They hailed it as the voice of a skilled navigator to the 
pilot, counseling a course that would rob the storm of its 
perils and lay the Nation to its ancient ways. But the 
hopes of the people were turned to ashes of disappoint- 
ment, and the voice of Stone became as that of one crying 
in the wilderness. The storm descended; the commander 
pursued his stubborn, unyielding course, and over- 
whelmed his country in measureless disaster. 

I met Gov. Stone very shortly after this incident, and 
hastened to express my gratitude for what I conceived 
to be an incalculable service to the public. He was then 
seriously concerned for the immediate future, a concern 

[57] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

that was for the country. I early discovered what many 
of his countrymen questioned in after years, that Gov. 
Stone was a patriot in the highest and best sense of that 
much-abused and frequently misunderstood term. He 
was a radical and uncompromising partisan, but his 
country, her welfare, her interests, as he understood them, 
was the influence which above all others commanded his 
affection and inspired his conduct. His view of service, 
of her policy, her interest, and her duty might subject 
him to reproach and obloquy, but they were the fruit of 
his anxious and deliberate reflective judgment. They 
might be wrong, but they were his, and he maintained 
them with all the vigor of courageous conviction. Abuse 
and misunderstanding might subject him to the denuncia- 
tion of popular clamor and the rebuke of statesmen, 
cajolery and persuasion might join with threat and vitu- 
peration to force his reluctant hand, but he would bear 
them all with serene fortitude and with the confidence of 
certain, though tardy, approval. Failing that, he could 
go his way unto the end, though he might travel bare- 
footed and alone. 

I shall not review the long record of Senator Stone's 
public service. Others have done that and done it well. 
It was a full and an honorable one — not perfect, for that 
is never humanly possible. He made mistakes, and they 
were broad ones, in keeping with his nature and breadth 
of vision. They were not the result of impulse, but of 
earnest and continued reflection. 

His view of America's attitude toward the great war 
was in the first half of its bloody course unquestionably 
that of the overwhelming majority of his countrymen, 
who shrank from the ordeal of a world conflict with all 
the intensity of an enlightened peace-loving people. 
Nothing save Germany's insensate disregard for neutrals 
and neutral rights, exemplified many times in acts of 



[58] 



Address of Mr. Thomas, of Colorado 

apalling horror and unmindful of repeated warnings, 
could have involved us. 

The crisis finally came with her resumption of indis- 
criminate submarine warfare, followed by the President's 
request for authority to arm our merchant ships for de- 
fense against this deadly form of national piracy. Sen- 
ator Stone was opposed to granting the desired authority. 
He felt that the allies had transgressed our rights as a neu- 
tral power quite as frequently and as flagrantly as had 
Germany, and that the proposed measure would precipi- 
tate a war which might yet be avoided without dishonor. 
No request for additional authority to deal with the allied 
invasions of our sovereignty had been made and none 
should be granted in the pending instance. He therefore 
protested and spoke against the joint resolution clothing 
the Executive with the desired power. The two situa- 
tions were, to my mind, fundamentally different. He did 
not think so, and he gave his reasons at length to the Sen- 
ate at a time when the Congress was rapidly nearing its 
close. For this he was unsparingly denounced by a vigor- 
ous and vindictive chorus of disapproval, whose echoes 
had not ceased when he passed away. He was accused of 
filibustering against the resolution. The fact that he 
spoke against it for nearly three hours, and that the Con- 
gress expired before a vote could be reached, gave strong 
color to the charge. Yet, knowing Senator Stone so well, 
I feel justified in saying, as I said many times while he 
was living, that he had no such purpose. He felt bound 
to give his reasons for his position, and, as he always did 
on occasions of unusual importance, he prepared him- 
self thoroughly and in writing. He was very deliberate 
in speech; at times painfully so. Except on rare occa- 
sions of great excitement, he never hurried. Such a man 
always requires time for delivery. And Senator Stone, 
without a thought of the fleeting moments and the rapid 



[59] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

approach of the fateful 4th of March, pursued his usual 
way. It was unfortunate, since the public condemnation 
was somewhat justified and, protests to the contrary, 
unavailing. 

But he made no protest. He bore the consequences and 
met the storm without flinching. Consistently with his 
view, he cast his vote in the following April against the 
declaration of a state of war with Germany. The friends 
who knew him well deplored the fact, while expecting 
nothing else from a man who seldom changed his convic- 
tions once they were fully formed. While I regretted the 
Senator's dissenting vote, I could, from my own experi- 
ences of the Civil War, understand his point of view. 

During that conflict we were both boys living in the 
South, and face to face with all its seamy sides. We knew 
what war meant. We had been made rudely and daily 
familiar with its carnage, its waste, its terror, and its de- 
struction. We could recall the long lists of casualties; the 
endless processions of the dead; the hordes" of armless, 
legless, blind, and mutilated survivors of the battle fields; 
the black badge of universal mourning; the agony of 
widowed hearts and the tears of orphaned children. We 
could visualize the returning skeletons of want and hun- 
ger, the destruction of cities, the laying waste of the coun- 
try and the pillage of the harvests, the hordes of refugees 
fleeing from the pathway of advancing armies, the thunder 
of the guns, and the shouting. I knew that he shrank with 
horror from the reinfliction of war's curse upon his coun- 
try, and I would have given my life willingly on that fate- 
ful 6th of April, did the sacrifice avail, to spare the Nation 
the agony of another war. But it had to come. We could 
neither stay nor avoid it. The progress of the world had 
garnered its seeds within her hosom. They were to germi- 
nate, to ripen, and be harvested, even as others now dimly 



[60] 



Address of Mr. Thomas, of Colorado 

perceived shall grow and be garnered in the fullness of 
time. 

War having been declared, Senator Stone accepted the 
cast of the die and gave the Government his constant and 
unfailing support. He voted supplies and men, contrib- 
uted of his modest substance to war loans, and devoted all 
his energies while he lived to its vigorous and successful 
prosecution. He died when the great German offensive of 
last spring had reached its farthest advance, when Paris 
laid almost at the Kaiser's feet, and Haig's indomitable 
Britons, with their backs to the wall, were slowly yielding 
to his terrific onset for the Channel ports. The allied re- 
verses of the month preceding his death wrung his heart 
and filled his mind with anxious forebodings. Doubtless 
the strain they imposed upon his weakened energies was a 
contributing cause to his sudden death. 

Senator Stone was one of the most powerful intellects 
of his generation, one of the strongest men who ever occu- 
pied a seat in this body. His slow and deliberate speech 
was in direct contrast to the rapidity of his mental 
processes. He saw all sides of every problem and, with 
rare powers of analysis, would quickly resolve it into its 
most prominent elements. He was a competent judge of 
men. He was a born political strategist, a debater of the 
highest order, and one of the most eloquent of men. His 
voice was clear and penetrating, his words well chosen, 
his diction perfect. But he was at his best only when 
absorbed by the ardor of conflict. His talent for contro- 
versial discussion needed the stimulus of active, if not 
extreme, opposition. When thoroughly aroused all his 
faculties were enlisted, and well he knew how and where 
to direct them. It was no surprise to those who knew him 
well that as a candidate soliciting the support of his 
people he never had been beaten. 



[61] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

The convention of 1896 blazed a new pathway for the 
Democratic Party. Rightly or wrongly, it wrote a decla- 
ration of principles whose advocacy meant aggression. 
It was no longer defensive or apologetic. That it would 
rend the party asunder was inevitable. That it would be 
immediately successful was only possible. That it com- 
mitted the party to a new and radical propaganda, which 
it must thereafter acknowledge whether it would or no, 
was beyond question. 

Gov. Stone was the chairman of the Missouri delegation 
to that convention, charged with the duty of securing the 
nomination of the Hon. Richard P. Rland for the Presi- 
dency. He did not accomplish that, for the unexpected 
happened; but he did more to shape the course and mold 
the proceedings of that great convention than any other 
member of it. If Bryan was its apotheosis, Stone was its 
soul incarnate. His influence was in the very atmosphere 
of the committees through which its course was directed. 
Yet there was no assumption of leadership, no assertion 
of authority, no contentious wrangling for position. 
Quietly, constantly, persuasively, and effectively he 
moved past obstacles, overcame difficulties, compromised 
differences, and suppressed resentments. It was a turbu- 
lent assemblage, where passion flamed high and opposi- 
tion countered hard upon every subject involved in its 
deliberations, where crimination and recrimination thrust 
and parried from its commencement to its close. Through 
the maze of its bitter contentions and animosities the 
hand of Gov. Stone guided the majority safely and 
steadily to its goal of ultimate accomplishment. As one 
of his modest aids on that historic occasion, I here pay my 
tribute to his consummate powers of leadership and or- 
ganization. A noted public man before, he now became 
a national figure and so remained until his death. 



[62] 



Address of Mr. Thomas, of Colorado 

Had he devoted himself to his profession Senator 
Stone would have been a great lawyer. A mind lured by 
the attractions of material success would have chosen 
the bar instead of the forum. But he was indifferent to 
the enticements of fortune. He died a poor man. That 
was once the signal distinction of a public official. It is 
still a most honorable one when the official begins his 
career without fortune. He lived well and modestly, 
content with the companionship of wife and children, 
whom he loved and who loved him in turn. His domestic 
life was singularly felicitous. Within the charmed circle 
of his home, companioned by a wife the gentleness and 
refinement of whose character shone through her counte- 
nance with the soft radiance of a spiritual beauty which 
time's effacing fingers can never destroy, and blessed with 
the affection of their children, he found all the joys that 
a resentful world would have denied him. His heart, his 
affections, his hopes, and his fears were centered at his 
hearthstone. He has gone, but the record of what he did 
and what he was remains. By that he will be judged, 
and judged correctly, when the excitements of a world 
conflict shall have subsided and passion no longer warps 
or obscures the opinions, when men, clear visioned and 
deliberate, can with impartial justice review events and 
careers in the far perspective of receding years. 



[63] 



Address of Mr. Gore, of Oklahoma 

Mr. President: It is not my intention to discuss the life 
or to detail the public services of our distinguished and 
lamented colleague. That labor of love has been done by 
those who knew him longer than it was either my privi- 
lege or my pleasure to know him. 

I desire to pay a word of tribute to one or two of his 
most distinguishing virtues and to call attention to one or 
two of the most distinguishing traits of his character. In 
what I shall say I do not mean to institute any com- 
parison between physical and moral courage. Each has 
its value, but they have such different standards of value 
that no true comparison can be drawn. Physical courage 
is the more common and may therefore be regarded as 
the more elemental. Moral courage is the less common, 
but it can not be regarded as the less admirable virtue. 

Physical courage is all but universal in the kingdom of 
animal life. It is one of the commonest traits that flesh 
is heir to. We can almost discern traces of physical brav- 
ery in the protoplasm, in the stuff that life is made of. 
We can mark it alike in the cell as well as in the con- 
quering hero. The microscope reveals deeds of desperate 
daring even among the denizens of the dewdrop. Phys- 
ical courage is exhibited among the embattled ants. It is 
exhibited by the tigress of the jungle as she prowls for 
prey. It is displayed by the timorous bird as she defends 
her nestlings with her life. It was exhibited by the 
dragons of the prime as they tore each other in their slime. 
The lion of the desert may be as indifferent to danger 
and as insensible to fear as a Richard of the Lion Heart. 

Physical bravery springs from instinct rather than 
reason. Indeed, it comes from elemental instinct. It is 
the essence out of which comes the first law of nature. 

[64] 



Address of Mr. Gore, of Oklahoma 



To our finite vision it does not seem to be at all times 
scrupulous as to the character of its cause. 

We love to believe that " he is thrice armed who hath 
his quarrel just," and yet by our standard no quarrel is so 
unjust that may not find champions and defenders willing 
to sacrifice their lives. This was ever so. We find the 
savage of the forest quite as willing to die in battle as the 
phalanx of Greece or the legions of Rome. 

Upon the battle field of Chalons the Europeans and the 
Asiatics joined issue as to which race should control the 
destinies of western Europe. The Hun and the European 
died with equal desperation. Upon the bloody field of 
Tours the Christian and the Mohammedan submitted 
their issue to the wager of battle. There they determined 
which religion should prevail over the future destinies of 
western Europe; the followers of the Cross and the follow- 
ers of the Crescent fought and fell with equal devotion. 

In the wilderness of this western world men of English 
blood laid down their lives to vindicate the self-evident 
truths of the Declaration of Independence. On the other 
hand, men of English blood laid down their lives to pre- 
vent the establishment of this free, this self-governing 
Republic. 

I say this to prove that every cause may find its cham- 
pions. I repeat that the despot has been able to find fol- 
lowers who would sacrifice their lives to perpetuate their 
own chains. 

In vindicating the principles of freedom our fathers laid 
down their lives in the noblest cause that can challenge 
the sacrifices of human nature. The principles typified 
by the Stars and Stripes have never called in vain for 
champions or defenders. Those principles will never call 
in vain for champions or defenders so long as valor is 
esteemed a virtue and so long as heroism is honored 
among the sons of men. In defense of these principles the 

115654°— 19 -5 [65] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Stone 

undying dead have sought for death, as the bridegroom 
seeks his bride, and yet with equal alacrity the followers 
and the minions of tyranny gone to their graves to estab- 
lish or to perpetuate the reign of the tyrant, the sway of 
the despot, and the dominion of the autocrat. This is not 
strange. This is no mystery. 

I repeat that physical bravery springs out of elemental 
instinct. It is one of the conditions of existence. It is 
the condition of survival. All existing generations of 
every existing species is the survival of long uncounted 
centuries of strife and struggle. These are the survivors. 
They are those who have passed through the crucible of 
unmitigated strife. In the supreme test the weakling, the 
coward, the parasite, as a rule, has perished by the way- 
side. This is the law of the Yukon — that only the strong 
shall thrive, that surely the weak shall perish, and only 
the fit survive. This at least was the law of the earlier 
ages of strife and of combat. 

This law may have been in some measure modified by 
the improving principles of humanity and of civilization, 
and yet its reminiscences are seen repeated in the history 
of the race. 

Moral courage is one of the rarest, one of the finest, I 
may say one of the divinest, attributes of God's image 
upon earth. Physical courage characterizes both " man 
and bird and beast." In its earlier stages it obeys neces- 
sity or responds to desire. It does not always, even in its 
later stages, distinguish between " the worse and the bet- 
ter cause." Moral courage characterizes rational beings 
alone, but, unfortunately, even among these it is not uni- 
versal. It distinguishes between right and wrong and 
never wittingly prefers the worse to the better cause. 
Moral courage obeys the still small voice of conscience for 
conscience' sake. Moral courage obeys the behest of duty 



[66] 



Address of Mr. Gore, of Oklahoma 



for duty's sake. Moral courage is alike indifferent to the 
hiss of the rabble and the applause of the multitude. 

Physical courage may find reenforcement in the psy- 
chology of the crowd, in the psychology of the mob, but 
moral courage would rather be right than popular. Moral 
courage will not consent to be wrong in order to purchase 
a cheap and transient popularity. Moral courage is in- 
different alike to the hisses of the mob and to the threats 
and the frowns of the mighty. Moral courage is indiffer- 
ent to the temptations and to the blandishments of power. 
Moral courage never seeks the line of no resistance; moral 
courage never seeks the line of least resistance. Moral 
courage goes where the voice of duty commands. 

Whatever be your faith, let me cite a crucial and his- 
toric instance. Peter denied his Master once, twice, and 
thrice before the crowing of the cock. He denied his 
Master rather than submit himself to the jeers of the ac- 
cusing crowd. He declared that he never knew the Man. 
On the other hand, his Master accepted without complaint 
the agonies alike of Gethsemane and of Calvary. History 
has pronounced judgment upon these exhibitions of 
moral courage. It must always be the temper and must 
often be the fate of moral courage to drink the hemlock 
and to wear the crown of thorns. Indeed, sir, I do not 
know but that the crown of thorns is the official diadem 
of moral heroism. 

There were many ties which bound me to our late and 
lamented friend and which bind me to cherish his mem- 
ory. I use the word " friend " in the highest sense of that 
most sacred term. He knew both the art and the philoso- 
phy of friendship, which was to prove himself a friend. 
His followers loved him for his undoubted and undeviat- 
ing fidelity. His antagonists honored him for his un- 
daunted and undeviating chivalry. 



[67] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

I admired his talents and I honored his public services. 
He was a practical man; he was a practical statesman. 
He never lost sight of the elementary needs of men, yet 
he never forgot the elementary rights of free men. To 
preserve and perpetuate those rights he was equal to the 
supremest sacrifice, even to the transient sacrifice of his 
fair name among those who for the moment misunder- 
stood. 

" Without turning," he always stood for freedom of 
thought. He always stood for freedom of speech. He 
always stood for the freedom of the press — a freedom 
which was used, which was abused, by some to misrepre- 
sent if not to slay him. 

I honored him for his moral heroism when occasion 
called for the exhibition of moral courage. Most of all, 
I honored him because he was among the few men who 
dare to speak truth to the people in the presence of the 
king, and dare to speak truth to the king in the presence 
of the people. 



[68] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 

Mr. President: I can add nothing to what has been said 
of Senator Stone, so eloquently, so tenderly, and so sin- 
cerely said, for I know well that all who have spoken 
voiced the sentiments of their hearts. 

This man was my friend, the dearest friend I ever had. 
I have tested his mettle. I have looked into his heart. 
I have seen his soul. He was as tender a husband, as 
loving a father, as sincere a friend, as chivalric a gentle- 
man as you will ever meet. He was as wise a man as I 
ever knew; he was as brave a man as I ever knew; he was 
as patriotic a man as ever lived and walked this earth. 

All his life he gave to his country. He was not an office 
seeker, selfishly striving to gain the power or emoluments 
of position. He was a soldier, who on the battle field of 
the world enlisted for life in the service of mankind. 

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of public serv- 
ants, perhaps I should say of officeholders. There is a 
class who climb to public position by any ladder that 
their feet can touch and who, once seated in a place of 
power, seek only to maintain it for their selfish profit. 
These men, having gained position, put ear to ground 
that they may catch each rumble of popular opinion. 
They study not the safety of the State. They think alone 
of how they may keep safe the place they hold. 

What an easy, lazy, selfish task to sit serenely and to 
never ask " What is the right? " " What does my country" 
need?" but "What is best for me, that I, forsooth, may 
cling to power, gathering the loaves and fishes of the place 
I have?" 

Such men as I am now discussing frequently secure the 
very acme of public praise. Forever drifting with the 
stream, their course is without opposition, and they enjoy 
the tranquillity of uselessness. We find them basking in 

[69] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

the sun. They, therefore, never feel the chill of adverse 
winds. As they are but the echo of the crowd, its gener- 
ous applause rings constant in their ears. Such a course 
requires neither courage nor talent. A fair ability to 
guess what may for the brief hour be popular is all that 
is required. They do not serve the State, humanity, or 
God; they serve themselves alone. 

But there are others, sir, and happily many, who place 
the call of duty above all selfish ends. We find them 
everywhere. The faithful servitor in private life who 
thinks more of his master's welfare than of the dollars 
he is paid. Such service is beyond a money price. The 
faithful officer of the country who makes its interest para- 
mount and to it gives the best energies of his life. Such 
men are guardians of the portals of the State. There 
also is the man who, filling a great post of public trust, 
thinks only of what his duty is, who does not pause to 
count the cost to his poor self, but, keeping mind and eye 
fixed on the stars of justice and of truth, steers the 
straight course of honor. Such a man is statesman, friend 
of country and humanity, and such alone do serve their 
country well. 

It has been well said here to-day how absolutely Sena- 
tor Stone devoted his life to public service. Notwith- 
standing the fact that his conspicuous abilities as a law- 
yer rendered his career at the bar one certain of the most 
brilliant achievements, he early abandoned that lucrative 
profession to serve his country in the Congress. I shall, 
in the sketch of his life later to be presented, call atten- 
tion to his activities in the House of Representatives. I 
characterize them now by one statement : His every vote 
as a Member of the House of Representatives may be 
examined, his every speech may be read, and there is not 
one vote that was not cast, there is not one speech that 
was not made, in defense of the plain, common people of 

[70] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



this land, in support of our country's rights, in vindication 
of those great, fundamental principles of democracy and 
of republicanism that have made this country the land of 
freedom, progress, and happiness. 

From his fight to recover for our Government the lands 
that thieves had stolen by the hundreds of thousands of 
acres, on through his career in the House his every act, 
his every vote, his every thought was upon the side of the 
people of the United States. No menacing power of 
wealth, no sinister influence, no consideration of self 
ever caused him to swerve a hair's breadth from the plain, 
straight path of duty to his country. 

He became governor of the State of Missouri. Here I 
want to give to my associates a chapter out of his life 
which will show how long he suffered under unjust 
charges, under villainous criticism, and the causes for it. 

With shame I say that my great State, like many other 
States of the Union, had in its legislative branch come too 
much within the influence of a corrupt railroad lobby. It 
was at that period when railroad officials conceived it to 
be their duty, or at least their interest, to seek to prevent 
legislation, however wholesome, by employing devious 
practices upon legislative bodies. Passes were handed out 
in great bales to legislators and their families. The rail- 
road lobbyist was looked for by certain classes almost as 
the pay car by the regular employees of the railroad. It 
was under such conditions Senator Stone dared to de- 
mand that the Missouri Legislature should pass a fellow- 
servant bill which would abrogate the ancient and brutal 
common-law rule that an employee could not recover for 
injuries if they had been inflicted through the carelessness 
of a fellow servant. The defense that had been made in 
hundreds of thousands of lawsuits had left many a 
brave man's widow without a dollar to live upon. It had 
turned into the street as paupers thousands of orphans 

[71] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

whose fathers, in the effort to save the passengers drawn 
by their engines, heroically died at their posts of duty. 

Seeing their ancient legal fortress impaired, the railroad 
lobby rallied. The struggle was intense, bitter, and re- 
lentless. In the end the lobby was powerful enough to de- 
feat the bill. In a message sternly demanding that the 
lobby should not be permitted to influence legislative ac- 
tion Senator Stone again demanded the enactment of the 
bill. So bitter was his castigation of the methods em- 
ployed that he incurred the personal enmity of the mem- 
bers of the lobby and all of its numerous and powerful 
allies. 

It was because of this service for humanity and the 
State that he became the victim of their slander and their 
abuse, which ran to such supreme heights and was carried 
on with such illimitable vindictiveness that many men 
were led to believe the foul slanders that were coined in 
the hearts of the criminals against whom our revered 
friend had sought to protect the State he loved and 
served. 

Most of the actors in that drama are dead and gone. I 
shall not further dwell upon the theme. In Missouri, 
where the real truth is known, the people understand that 
there is not a blot or stain upon the honorable and pure 
career of William Joel Stone. From his labors at last 
came the statute that gave relief against the hardships of 
the old common-law rule. By his sturdy blows the lobby 
and the corrupt elements that had infested our capital were 
given their first great defeat, a defeat which ultimately re- 
sulted in their extermination. When Gov. Stone engaged 
in that conflict he knew the cost; but then, as at all other 
times, he stood square fronted to the storm and did not for 
a moment flinch. 

When he left the office of governor this man with these 
superb talents, who could have sold his time at any price, 

[72] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



was in debt thousands of dollars, without, I believe, a 
hundred dollars' worth of property of any kind. 

He engaged for two or three years in the practice of 
law, and in that short period was able to pay off all the 
debts he owed and lay by what might almost have been 
a competence to some men. When he again entered the 
public service his little fortune melted away like snow 
before the sun. He served until the end of his life in this 
body and died so poor that substantially all he left to the 
family he loved was a little life insurance policy. 
Briefly, let me refer to his labors as a Senator: 
Men of the Senate, you have seen him toil unremittingly 
by day. You know how he labored in committees far into 
the night. When, some three years ago, the great finance 
bill was pressing, he undoubtedly broke his health by the 
tremendous labor he underwent. At that time he sur- 
vived a sick spell that threatened to bring the end. He 
never was strong again; and yet he came to this body 
when he was so feeble that he could scarcely walk. He 
sat with his committees. He toiled and wrought unceas- 
ingly. Not a detail of duty was allowed to escape his 
vigilance and industry. And so, worn out and troubled, 
this old soldier serving a life enlistment in the army of 
patriotism, came to answer the question that has been so 
often referred to to-day, " Is it my duty to vote to plunge 
my country into the great European war or is it my duty 
to seek to hold her back? " 

I know his heart on that. I talked with him. I said to 
him : 

It is the decree of fate; war will be declared. A vote against 
it will mean your political ruin. You are old and you have no 
property. 

I wish — great God of justice, how I wish ! — all the people 
of his State could have looked into his eyes as I was look- 
ing then and could have seen his soul as I saw it revealed 

[73] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

and could have heard his voice, tremulous with emotion, 
as he answered : 

I know what it means to me. I know this war is coming. I 
know the people are aflame with the spirit of battle. I know that 
it is inevitable; but would you have me consider my personal 
welfare in a case that involves the lives of millions of men, the 
heartaches of countless mothers, the breaking up of homes? I 
can not vote to send our boys into this conflict, to involve our 
country in this struggle, the end of which we can not see, and 
the results of which to our country and our civilization we can 
not prophecy. I can not so vote until further efforts have been 
made to avert the fearful sacrifices. 

And so he cast his vote against the declaration of war. 

Was it not a hrave thing to do? Had he voted for war, 
he would not have been voting to send himself to war or 
into any danger. He would have been acclaimed a great 
leader. When he voted against war, he voted liis own 
crucifixion for months; perhaps forever. Had he voted 
for war, he would not have voted to send his own son, 
for he was a distinguished Federal judge, beyond the age 
to be sent to war. 

He would not have voted to send a single close per- 
sonal relative so far as I know. He was not thinking of 
himself. He was thinking of the sons of other fathers, 
the grown-up " babies " of other mothers, the husbands 
of wives, the fathers of children who would die on dis- 
tant battle fields. He was looking at the orphans that 
were to be, the army of cripples that would soon march 
across our land. He was thinking of our country and 
the dangers that lurked after the war as well as in the 
war. 

So he endured the torture of attack, the obloquy of 
slander, the shafts of abuse, and stood up bravely and 
without shrinking. But as the war went on each day he 
gave his thought, his heart, his energy to the success of 



174] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



the American Army. I say here what has already been, 
in substance, said, it was the grim advance of Germany's 
hosts that did much to break him down and to hasten the 
inevitable end. Day after day I was in his office, calling 
generally in the morning, finding him there almost in- 
variably pacing the floor. In his hand a newspaper de- 
scribing how the French were being driven back and 
back and how the gallant English were being forced to 
retreat; telling of assaults with poison gas and deadly 
shells that broke the heroic ranks of our allies and car- 
peted the ground with thousands of their gallant dead. 

I saw him then and know how his soul agonized. I 
know how his body quivered with excitement and sym- 
pathy for our friends and for our cause. It was not hard 
then to discover that the old patriot and lover of his coun- 
try could not longer withstand the agony. At last the 
strain became too great, the vital cord snapped. In the 
fullness of his intellectual power, at the zenith of his 
greatness, he halted. His work for country and for hu- 
manity had ceased. 

There is no speech or tongue that can quite do justice to 
a life like his. Faithful to friends and true to every trust, 
through life's long battle he fronted every foe. His arm 
was never lowered in the strife. He never struck an un- 
kind or ungenerous blow. He folded the mantle of honor 
about him and laid down upon life's battle field and sank 
into that peaceful slumber death brings the brave. There 
is no stain or taint upon his life, and at its end his friends 
and all the world can write, " Well done, thou good and 
faithful servant." 

I present a brief sketch of the public service of Sena- 
tor William Joel Stone : 

Senator Stone was a Member of the Forty-ninth, Fif- 
tieth, and Fifty-first Congresses, his term beginning March 
4, 1885, and closing March 4, 1891. 



[75] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 



Dining his term in the House he was a member of the 
Public Lands Committee, of the Selective Committee on 
Reform in the Civil Service, and a selective committee 
appointed to investigate the labor troubles in Pennsyl- 
vania in 1888. 

His work in Congress was principally identified with 
(1) public lands; (2) reformation of the civil service; (3) 
amendments to the Judicial Code, having in mind the 
restriction of jurisdiction of the then United States circuit 
court; (4) opposition to fraudulent pensions; (5) river 
and harbor improvement; (6) repeal of silver-purchase 
law; (7) tariff reduction; (8) opposition to the force bill. 

(1) Public lands: His services in respect to public lands 
were in connection with two great measures. One of 
these measures, which was not introduced by him but in 
which he took a very prominent part, was the repeal of 
the then existing laws respecting the acquirement of pub- 
lic lands. At this particular time a vast amount of the 
land being preempted or taken under the different land 
laws was being fraudulently acquired. It was estimated 
by Land Office officials that all the way from 70 to 95 per 
cent of the entries were fraudulent. A large amouDt, 
literally hundreds of thousands of acres of valuable min- 
eral, grazing, and timber lands were being thus accumu- 
lated by speculators in utter defiance of the wording and 
spirit of the land laws and, of course, to the detriment of 
the bona fide settler and entryman. The law in question, 
if adopted, would have had the double effect of protect- 
ing past frauds and making future fraudulent acts easy 
and safe. Against this proposition he fought during the 
entire three terms. His speeches upon this subject may 
be found in the Records of the Forty-ninth Congress, first 
session, page 7161; Forty-ninth Congress, second session, 
page 2023; Fiftieth Congress, first session, pages 5561, 



[76] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 

5568, 5573, 5596, and 5606. They were models of research, 
logic, and forensic ability of the highest type. 

The second measure affecting the public lands with 
which he was identified, and, in fact, the author, was a bill 
providing for the forfeiture by various railroads of land 
granted by the Government in aid of railway construction 
under certain conditions, which conditions had not been 
complied with by the railway companies. In other words, 
the return to the Government of donated land which had 
not been earned in accordance with the terms of the do- 
nation. These forfeiture bills involved something like 
60,000,000 acres of land. After a fight which he led,' last- 
ing five years, the most of these laws were passed in sub- 
stance and there was returned to the public domain ap- 
proximately 60,000,000 acres for settlement, thus afford- 
ing homes and farms for 375,000 settlers. 

His speeches upon this matter may be found in the 
Records of the Fiftieth Congress, first session, pages 5436, 
5439, 5440, and 7039-7044; Fiftieth Congress, second ses- 
sion, pages 2674-2676; Fifty-first Congress, first session, 
pages 7002-7012. 

These speeches show the ability of a great lawyer, a pro- 
found reasoner, and give conclusive evidence of Senator 
Stone's hatred of everything tainted with unfairness or 
dishonesty. They brought him into national prominence. 
Changes in the land laws affecting Oklahoma public lands 
which would have made speculation and fraud easy: 
Fifty-first Congress, first session, pages 2210-2213, 
2216, 2218. 

(2) Restriction of United States courts: He had been 
very much impressed by the injustice of the imprisonment 
of county judges in Missouri who had refused to vote tax 
levies to pay the old fraudulent railway bonds. Two of 
the counties involved — Cass and St. Clair — were in his con- 
gressional district. He was impressed deeply with the 

[77] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Stone 

conviction that the United States courts, in issuing writs 
controlling the acts of State officials in their duties under 
State laws, were exceeding their constitutional powers 
and were breaking down the sovereignty of the State as 
guaranteed under the Constitution. He regarded it as of 
paramount importance to the welfare of the country that 
neither the National Government nor the States should 
be deprived of any of the powers granted in the Consti- 
tution. He believed that the tendency in the courts was 
toward a centralization of power and a crippling in an 
unwarrantedand unconstitutional manner of the powers of 
the State. This he found exemplified in the change of the 
attitude by the Supreme Court of the United States in the 
matter of following the State court interpretation and con- 
struction of State laws and constitutions and in the writs 
issued to State officers as above. The latter evil had been 
brought, as I have said, vividly to his mind through the 
imprisonment of these county judges, who under the ex- 
isting law were not only powerless to issue the orders 
levying the taxes in accordance with the judgment of the 
United States court but would have made themselves 
liable to heavy penalties had they done so. He therefore 
introduced a bill providing that "The jurisdiction of the 
district and circuit courts of the United States shall not be 
deemed to extend to any judicial or other officer elected or 
appointed under the laws of any State to compel by man- 
damus or other writ the performance by such officer of 
any official act arising under or authorized to be done by 
the laws of such State." Upon the 5th of January, 1886, 
he for the first time introduced bills. One of these was 
the above, affecting United States courts. In every session 
thereafter he introduced this same measure and fought 
for its adoption. The speeches made in support of it are 
powerful and seemingly unanswerable constitutional argu- 
ments; they may be found in the Record of the Forty-ninth 

[78] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



Congress, second session, page 1459, and the Fiftieth Con- 
gress, first session. 

It may be of interest in this connection to say that, al- 
though unsuccessful in having this law adopted, he con- 
tinued the fight during his term as governor, sending to 
the legislature a special message requesting the memori- 
alization of Congress touching the matter and the pas- 
sage of a law which would permit the governor, in any 
case where the county judge was incapacitated hy im- 
prisonment or otherwise to act, to appoint a commis- 
sioner to do any and only such specified acts as the gov- 
ernor might designate and who should remain in office 
only until those acts were performed. This recommen- 
dation passed the house of representatives but was killed 
in the State senate by what was denominated in the news- 
papers at that time as the " bondholders' friends." 

(3) Fraudulent pensions: At the time he was serving in 
the House of Representatives a vast number of bills pen- 
sioning named persons were passed. This was done to 
such an extent that Friday night of each week was set 
aside and devoted to that purpose. Early in the first 
session of the Fifty-first Congress he began to oppose 
such of these bills as he regarded as fraudulent and un- 
worthy. This opposition was unusual, startling, and dar- 
ing, since it in a way challenged the opposition of the 
old soldier vote, of which vote he had a very large num- 
ber in his district. The position he took in regard to these 
bills was that each claim should be carefully considered 
upon its merits, the worthy claims allowed and the un- 
worthy disallowed. He undertook the enormous task of 
investigating the great number of these claims in detail, 
and so effective was his exposure of the fraudulent char- 
acter of many of them that during that term, which was 
his last in the House, the evil was effectually abated. 
His position on these matters attracted wide attention all 



[79] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 



over the country and, except from selfish or partisan 
sources, met with universal approval. Some of his re- 
marks upon these matters may be found in the Record 
of the Fifty-first Congress, first session, pages 2502-2509, 
2763, 2254-2259, 2773, 3012, 3516. 

(4) River and harbor improvement: Reginning with his 
first session in Congress and extending through the time 
he was in the House of Representatives he vigorously 
opposed provisions in the river and harbor bill appro- 
priating money for the improvement of inconsequential 
streams. His position upon such improvements was ex- 
pressed in the following sentence: 

I would improve nothing by national legislation except impor- 
tant harbors and the important rivers of the country. (49th 
Cong., 2d sess., p. 921.) 

His speeches upon this subject may be found in the 
Record, Forty-ninth Congress, first session, page 4246; 
Forty-ninth Congress, second session, page 920; Fiftieth 
Congress, first session, pages 3208, 3255, 3259-3261. The 
final part of the first speech made upon this subject, found 
in the Record, Forty-ninth Congress, first session, page 
4246, is rich with rare humor and is well worthy to stand 
beside Proctor Knott's famous Duluth speech. 

(5) Repeal of silver purchase law: At this time the 
United States Government purchased so much silver annu- 
ally. During the terms he served the House there was a 
violent fight over the repeal of this law, which would have 
resulted in the total demonetization of silver. Upon this 
question he took a strong stand against the repeal of the 
purchase clause. The first speech he ever made in Con- 
gress was in opposition. The first sentence, so far as the 
Record shows, which he uttered in Congress was the be- 
ginning of this speech, as follows: 

Mr. Speaker, I take it that statesmanship is never directed to 
better purpose than when it aspires to make the great masses of 
people contented and happy. (49th Cong., 1st sess., p. 2603.) 

[80] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



His speeches upon this matter are found in the Record 
of the Forty-ninth Congress, first session, page 2603; Fifty- 
first Congress, first session, page 5807. 

It was undoubtedly Stone's great influence which tipped 
the balance of Democratic opinion in favor of the ticket of 
free and unlimited coinage of silver. Stone was an ar- 
dent advocate of the nomination of Mr. Bland for Presi- 
dent at the 1896 convention. Whatever may be the 
opinion as to the wisdom of the free and unlimited coin- 
age of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1, it is now practically 
admitted that the interests of the country demanded an 
increased volume of money. It is not too much to say that 
whether or not free and unlimited coinage of silver was 
a correct principle it was a sounder doctrine than that 
the currency should remain stationary and contracted. 
This battle waged on behalf of the people undoubtedly 
brought good fruit in later years and did much toward 
the final currency and banking reform under which the 
Nation now prospers. 

(6) Tariff reduction: He was at all times strongly in 
favor of a reduction of the tariff to a strictly revenue 
basis. His views upon that matter may be found in the 
Record, Fiftieth Congress, first session, pages 3856, 4869. 

(7) Force bill : Thomas R. Reed, of Maine, was Speaker 
of the Fifty-first Congress, and it was during that Con- 
gress the Republicans introduced and attempted to pass 
the infamous force bill, which contemplated the complete 
control of elections by Federal officials — military, if 
necessary. This bill was aimed to perpetuate in power 
the Republican Party by giving over the control of the 
South. No congressional measure in my memory has 
engendered the bitterness in congressional debate which 
this bill aroused. In both sessions of this Congress he 
made speeches against the bill. In the last of these 
speeches he did much to compass the defeat of the bill. 

115654°— 19 6 [81] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

Lovers of forensic eloquence would do well to read that 
speech. It is found in the Record, Fifty-first Congress, 
second session, page 1211. The other speech is found in 
the Record, Fifty-first Congress, first session, page 6848. 

Other matters of importance upon which he expressed 
himself were as follows: 

(a) In connection with a bill providing for arbitration 
between interstate carriers and their employees he in- 
dorsed labor organization and advocated the ownership 
by the Government of railways and telegraphs. (Record, 
49th Cong., 1st sess., Appendix, p. 54.) 

(b) He favored the irrigation of arid areas. (Record, 
49th Cong., 2d sess., p. 8480.) 

(c) He bitterly attacked "Czar" Reed's abuse of 
powers as Speaker of the House. (51st Cong., 1st sess., 
Appendix, p. 45.) 

(d) He voted for and advocated an act prohibiting the 
importation and sale of convict-labor-made articles. 

(e) The report, partially prepared by him, made by the 
selective committee on existing labor troubles in Penn- 
sylvania in 1888 was such a thorough exposure of the 
unparalleled conditions of labor in that State that it 
attracted national attention and comment. 

The distinguished services rendered by Mr. Stone as a 
Member of Congress made him the logical Democratic 
nominee for governor. He filled that important position 
from 1893 to 1897. 

His entire administration was stormy and eventful. 
This was due partly from conditions affecting Missouri 
along with the entire country and partly from conditions 
peculiar to Missouri at that time. Among the former 
may be noted the financial stringency and panic and wide- 
spread labor disturbances on a great scale, including the 
American Railway Union strike and miners' strike. 
Among the latter conditions may be noted the marked re- 



[82] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



duction in the State revenues, the powerful railroad lobby 
which had control of the legislature, and frauds in elec- 
tions in the big cities of the State. 

The effect of the general nation-wide financial situa- 
tion needs no comment. 

There was widespread industrial discontent at the time, 
which included not only the railway and mine strikes 
noted above but the famous Coxey movement. The re- 
sult of these disturbances was that the military arm of 
the State was called out in many States of the Union, 
including the three Missouri boundary States — Kansas, 
Iowa, and Illinois. Although Missouri was a great rail- 
road and a great mining State, and these disturbances 
were as powerful there as in other States, the situation 
was so controlled that disturbances were reduced to the 
minimum and at no time was it necessary to declare 
martial law at any point or to call out the State troops. 
This was the result, of course, of his firm but rational 
handling of the situation. 

The reduction of the State revenue began about the first 
of his administration. Under the State constitution the 
rate of taxation for State purposes automatically changed 
from 20 to 15 mills when the assessed valuation reached 
$900,000,000. Up to the beginning of his administration 
the assessed valuation had been a few millions under 
$900,000,000, thus affording the maximum revenue. 
About the beginning of his administration it passed to a 
few million beyond the $900,000,000 mark, resulting in a 
loss of one-fourth of the tax rate with no compensating 
increase in the assessed valuation. Also, in 1892, just be- 
fore the beginning of his term, the main building of the 
State University had burned, and during his administra- 
tion the normal buildings at one of the normal schools 
had also been destroyed by fire. In the face of this finan- 
cial condition the affairs of the State were so handled 



[83] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

that not only were all State needs met, repairs and addi- 
tions to the eleemosynary and educational institutions 
made, including the present main huilding at the State 
University, hut the State bonded debt was very materially 
decreased. At the beginning of his term this bonded debt 
amounted to $6,680,000, consisting of $1,380,000 at 6 per 
cent and $5,300,000 at 3| per cent. 

During this administration all of the 6 per cent bonds 
were paid off and $300,000 of the 3| per cent bonds, thus 
reducing the bonded debt by $1,680,000, disposing of all 
of the higher per cent bonds and reducing the annual 
interest demand by almost $100,000. As important items 
in connection with this subject it may be said that the 
reduction of the annual revenue through the change of 
rate of taxation was about $500,000 and that during this 
time nearly $800,000 was expended in connection with 
additions and repairs at educational and eleemosynary 
institutions. 

For years the railroad lobby had exercised a potential 
influence over the State legislature. The fight with this 
lobby began shortly after his induction into office through 
his attempt to have enacted a railway fellow-servants' 
law. The fight became bitter and personal, with the re- 
sult that for the first time in many years the lobby was 
driven from power, and although they prevented the 
enaction of the fellow-servants' law during his adminis- 
tration his work had been so effective that it was forced 
through by the first legislature after he left office. 

There had been prior to and during his term of office 
notorious election frauds in the large cities of the State. 
He urged and secured the passage of fair election laws 
which tended to minimize this evil. 

He proved himself the friend of the public-school sys- 
tem of the State and a champion of the university, send- 
ing to the legislature a special message upon the latter 



[84] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



subject in which he favored the establishment of a sub- 
stantial endowment fund. As stated in the discussion of 
his record in the House of Representatives, he sought to 
relieve the situation brought about in St. Clair and other 
counties by the imprisonment of the county judges, send- 
ing a special message to the legislature in that regard, ad- 
vocating a memorial to Congress upon the subject, and 
a law empowering the Government to appoint a commis- 
sioner with special powers to carry on such parts of the 
duties of the county court as might be designated by the 
governor and which were necessary to prevent the paral- 
ysis of the affairs of the counties. 

During his term as governor he took a very prominent 
part in State and national politics. Among the subjects 
in question to which he devoted himself was the silver 
question, with which you are familiar. Others were as 
follows : 

During his term the American Protective Association 
reached the zenith of power. This was an organization 
whose sole purpose was to oppose the holding of public 
office by any Catholic. It introduced into politics the 
religious issue, and seems unquestionably, at least in Mis- 
souri, to have been allied with the Republican Party. It 
became very formidable and public men were careful in 
opposing it. He, however, declared vigorously against it, 
denouncing it in unmeasured terms as un-American and 
fighting it so effectively that the Democratic convention 
of 1894 adopted as a plank in its platform a denuncia- 
tion of the organization. The fact that he was bitterly 
denounced for this action and received a great number of 
letters threatening his life had the, with him, natural re- 
sult of increasing his opposition. 

Out of all his speeches I am sure he would have me 
select for preservation here these words which he uttered 
in the Missouri campaign of 1894. He would desire to 



[85] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 



have them preserved because he spoke them out of the 
fullness of his heart; because they mirrored his broad, 
generous soul and his true Americanism : 

Thomas Jefferson was the father of the Democratic Party. On 
his tomb is an inscription which he had written for himself, 
" The author of the statute of religious freedom of the State of 
Virginia." 

There are men within the hearing of my voice now, I doubt 
not, who recollect how the so-called Know-nothing Party rose 
up and became a political potentiality in the forties. Its objects 
were twofold — to deny the ballot to citizens born outside the 
United States and to Catholics the right to hold an office. And 
the first Democratic national convention, after this organization 
arose, denounced it as un-American, wrong in principle, as an 
attack upon the liberty of the individual and the integrity of our 
institutions. The Republican Party shortly afterwards nomi- 
nated a President and Vice President and formulated a platform. 
But it said not one word in denunciation of that Know-nothing 
movement. It dodged the issue and said nothing. It has been 
prone to this policy ever since. Fellow citizens, that political 
party is not worth your vote or mine that hesitates to do right, no 
matter what comes of it. 

I denounce this present know-nothing movement, this A. P. A., 
as our party has denounced it, because it is un-Democratic, un- 
American, and un-Christian. It is un-Democratic because it is 
inequitable and unjust. It is un-American because it is contrary 
to the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, which 
provides that no religious test shall ever be required to the hold- 
ing of public office. And a similar provision is written in the 
fundamental law of our own Commonwealth. Finally, I leave 
it with you all if it is not un-Christian. 1 do not speak to-night 
from the standpoint of a Catholic. I am not a Catholic. By birth, 
by marriage, by conviction I am a Protestant; I speak from the 
standpoint of an American citizen, a Democrat, and a man. 

He championed the rights of the States and of local gov- 
ernment. 

He also advocated the construction of a deep waterway 
from the Lakes to the Gulf, with improvement of the 
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. 

[86] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



In September, 1894, in a speech at Carthage, he strongly 
advocated the popular election of United States Senators. 

At the annual banquet of the New York Board of Trade 
and Transportation at Delmonico's in April, 1894, as guest 
of honor, he responded to the toast of " The Western Point 
of View." His speech was a eulogy of the greatness of the 
West, which he loved, and of the political and patriotic 
necessity of a combination of the West and South against 
the East to secure fair national treatment unless the East 
would recognize the situation and accord it. This speech 
attracted national attention and placed him among the 
presidential possibilities widely discussed. 

Senator Stone's career is fresh in the minds of those 
who meet to-day to pay respect to his memory. Never- 
theless, for the sake of history, I shall very briefly review 
some of his principal acts in the Senate during the years 
he sat here in this Chamber exercising a potential influ- 
ence upon public events. 

William J. Stone entered the Senate March 4, 1903, 
succeeding George Graham Vest, Missouri's renowned 
" Senator of two Republics," whose service in the United 
States Senate covered an eventful period of 18 years. It 
is well known in the political history of Missouri that Mr. 
Stone could have been elected to the Senate in 1897 upon 
his retirement from the governorship. It is known that 
he declined the overtures made by Democratic leaders in 
the legislature because of his profound respect for the 
towering abilities of Senator Vest and because he con- 
sidered the distinguished services of Vest merited contin- 
ued tenure in the Senate. It was not until Mr. Vest an- 
nounced his forthcoming retirement that Gov. Stone con- 
sented to become a candidate for senatorial honors. He 
was elected by the legislature in January, 1903, following 
a caucus nomination of his own party, without opposition, 
his only opponent having withdrawn upon the eve of the 
ballot. 

[87] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

His senatorial career began with the special session of 
the Senate in the Fifty-eighth Congress, called in March, 
1903, to consider the Cuban reciprocity treaty. His first 
entry into senatorial debate was on January 26, 1901, with 
an address upon the Panama Canal treaty concluded with 
the new-fledged Republic of Panama by the Roosevelt 
administration. The debates upon this treaty were 
largely conducted in the open Senate through the medium 
of resolutions touching the controversy presented by 
various Senators. Senator Stone drew the attention of 
his new colleagues by a clear, incisive discussion of the 
somewhat unusual features of the revolution out of which 
the new government had sprung. He supported the 
treaty, accepting the opportunity to advance the great 
canal project, of such great concern to Americans, but 
condemned the methods he believed to have preceded the 
separation of Panama from Colombia, urging a more 
liberal policy in dealing with the Latin American nations. 
His words upon this occasion were prophetic, suggestive 
of a new policy in our relations with Central and South 
American States, a policy now generally approved and 
accepted as both wise and just. Among other things, he 
said: 

The true policy of this Government with reference to the Re- 
publics south of us would lead us on different and higher lines. 
We should so comport ourselves as to inspire the confidence of 
our neighbors. They should not stand in dread of our power, but 
rely upon it as a shield for their protection. We should link them 
by bonds of mutual amity and interest. What boots the Monroe 
doctrine to them if it stands only to guard them against European 
aggression, while the door is open for us to invade at pleasure? 

If I could be potent in shaping our policy in this behalf, I 
would be governed by one supreme consideration — that of at- 
tracting the southern Republics to us by a course instinct with 
the spirit of candor, justice, and fair play. I would enter into 
such compacts with them as would promote our commercial re- 
lations and make them for all practical purposes, offensive and 

[88] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



defensive, a part of us. I would strive to inaugurate great repub- 
lican policies of government — monetary, commercial, and politi- 
cal — common to all America, and these I would oppose, if need 
be, to the monarchical policies of the Old World. 

Senator Stone received exceptionally good committee 
assignments, including places on the Commerce, Indian 
Affairs, Philippines, Puhlic Buildings, and Education and 
Labor Committees, all active, important bodies. At that 
time, with the Indian problem in an acute stage, prior to 
statehood for Oklahoma and the Indian Territory, his 
assignment to the Indian Affairs Committee, of which he 
afterwards became chairman, was particularly important. 
Many thousands of Missourians were residents of the two 
Territories named, and these people naturally regarded 
Mr. Stone as their representative. Accordingly he took 
an active interest in all legislation dealing with the settle- 
ment of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes, sponsoring 
and advocating many constructive measures vital to the 
people of the Southwest. Among these were bills looking 
to the removal of restrictions upon the alienation of the 
surplus lands of full-fledged citizens; the control of the 
sale and leasing of mineral lands in the Territory so as to 
protect the Indian, prevent unscrupulous exploitation, and 
at the same time promote the legitimate development of a 
region of marvelous growth and prospect. He exposed 
and thwarted many designs of speculators and lobbyists 
who sought to profit at the expense of the Indian and this 
new country. Statehood was then the vital issue in the 
Territories, and, though not a member of the Territories 
Committee, he consistently advocated and voted for state- 
hood, preferring separate statehood, but finally supporting 
the only possible measure that could be passed, under 
which Oklahoma was admitted into the Union. In con- 
nection with his consideration of the Indian problem he 
strongly supported the established policy of Congress and 



[89] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

the Government in suppressing the liquor traffic among 
the Indian tribes and was the author of the self-enforcing 
prohibitory provision afterwards incorporated into the 
Oklahoma constitution, known as the Gallinger-Stone 
amendment to the statehood enabling act. 

Through his fight with the railroad lobby in Missouri 
he had become familiar with the evil effects of corpora- 
tion activity in politics. He had succeeded in securing the 
adoption of a party declaration upon the subject by the 
Democratic national convention in 1900, which he wrote 
and championed. This declaration reads: 

Corporations should be protected in all their rights, and their 
legitimate interests ought to be respected, but any attempt to 
interfere with public affairs of the people or to control the sov- 
ereign which creates them ought to be forbidden under such 
penalties as will make such attempts impossible. 

During the last days of the Fifty-eighth Congress he de- 
livered in the Senate a remarkable address upon the sub- 
ject of campaign contributions by corporations and was 
one of the first to advocate stringent penalties for future 
offenses of this character. It has since been provided by 
law in practically every State and by Federal statute 
that no corporation can make contributions to commit- 
tees or candidates. Stone was among the pioneers in 
urging such legislation. 

He succeeded Senator Vest on the Commerce Commit- 
tee, then, as now, dealing with waterway transportation 
projects of great consequence to the States touching the 
Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers. During the early 
period of his service on this committee the policy of Con- 
gress respecting the upper Mississippi and the Missouri 
was distinctly unfavorable. Senator Stone began a long 
and for many years an apparently hopeless fight for a 
systematic improvement plan, adequately financed by 
congressional appropriations, covering both waterways. 

[90] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



This was before commercial bodies in the Mississippi 
Valley had undertaken extensive educational propaganda 
directed toward the development of public sentiment in 
sympathy with these projects. Many of the appropria- 
tions which maintained these two waterways upon even 
the most temporary basis during these years of deter- 
mined opposition by potent factors in legislation in both 
Houses of Congress were due to the persistent and per- 
suasive efforts of the Missouri Senator. Dealing with 
the haphazard method of river appropriations, he said in 
the Senate on February 27, 1907 : 

Yet we wonder why the commerce on the river goes down, and 
why the capitalists of St. Louis do not invest in boats and barges 
for river navigation. There is neither justice nor reason in such 
a condition. A policy such as we are following creates uncer- 
tainty, destroys confidence, and retards the development of that 
immense commerce that would almost certainly follow if more 
assuring conditions prevailed. 

He had the privilege of subsequently aiding in framing 
the provision of legislation which established permanent 
annual appropriations for the Missouri River and in- 
creased allotments to the upper Mississippi. At all times 
he was an ardent advocate of the project known as the 
Lakes-to-the-Gulf waterway. 

In his service upon the Commerce Committee he be- 
came a close student of the national shipping problem 
and was always a staunch advocate of liberal treatment 
of American shipping. More than once he advocated in 
the Senate repeal of the restrictive navigation laws, which 
he argued were responsible for the decline of the Amer- 
ican merchant fleet. He had always been one of the fore- 
most advocates of progressive merchant-marine legisla- 
tion. Practically every public utterance of his, upon the 
stump and elsewhere, dealing with general national is- 
sues had contained strong appeals for merchant-marine 



[91] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

legislation upon broad lines. He had opposed subsidies 
upon all occasions, owing to his pronounced conviction 
that the repeal of the navigation laws would alone pro- 
mote the growth of a national fleet under American regis- 
try. Years afterwards, in the Sixty-fourth Congress, when 
as an administration leader, with his own party in power 
in the Senate, he was one of the foremost Senators con- 
tending for the passage of the shipping bill, which after- 
wards became law in a modified form, resulting in the 
establishment of the present Shipping Board and the 
Emergency Fleet. His activities in this behalf are well 
known. His strong advocacy of an adequate naval pro- 
gram was inseparably connected with his ardor for a 
great merchant fleet. Speaking on this subject in the 
Senate, April 27, 1908, he said : 

For many years, both in and out of Congress, I have been an 
ardent advocate of an increased Navy and also policies looking to 
the restoration of our merchant marine. The two things are so 
related that I can not think of the one without thinking of the 
other. The decadence of our maritime prestige and power con- 
stitutes one of the most discreditable and humiliating facts in 
our history. * * * No man is more solicitous than I to see 
our merchant ships swarming all over the world, and I doubt if 
any is more keenly alive to the wisdom and necessity of construct- 
ing a war Navy adequate to subserve the needs of our country. 

During the long session of the Fifty-ninth Congress the 
railroad-rate legislation pressed by President Roosevelt 
was the acute issue. The bill finally presented to the Sen- 
ate empowered the Interstate Commerce Commission to 
fix rates upon prescribed standards. Debate in the Senate 
was extended, finally turning upon the question of judicial 
review of the commission's acts. Many great speeches 
were made upon the various phases of the legislation pro- 
posed. Senator Stone delivered during this session one of 
the most carefully prepared addresses of his legislative 



192] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



career, in which he discussed these problems with rare 
clearness of thought, taking advanced ground upon both 
the legal questions presented and the general policy of 
rate fixing. In this speech, delivered April 5, 1906, he 
opposed enlargement of the power of the judiciary to sus- 
pend the orders of the commission and strongly advo- 
cated the policy of allowing the commission to initiate 
and fix rates. He favored the regulation by statute of the 
practice of courts in dealing with the decrees of the com- 
mission, saying: 

A law of this kind to be effective, and orders of this kind by a 
commission of this kind to be of value, must be promptly en- 
forced. The courts should be open to every suitor, but the privi- 
lege of resorting to them should not be turned into an abuse. 
While guarding the right of everyone to seek a judicial remedy 
for private wrong, the exercise of that right should be so regu- 
lated as to prevent it eventuating in a public wrong. 

The original interstate-commerce act, which placed a 
ban upon rebating, contained a clause punishing viola- 
tions of the antirebate section by imprisonment. In the 
Fifty-seventh Congress the imprisonment penalties were 
abolished by act of Congress. In his speech of April 5, 
1906, Senator Stone advocated the restoration of these 
penalties, being the first Senator to speak upon the sub- 
ject. Later he offered an amendment to the pending 
bill which restored the penalty clauses of the original 
act. This amendment was adopted and the bill as finally 
passed contained the provision. 

In 1907 he made an extended tour of the Philippine 
Islands and the Orient, and upon his return to the Senate 
he prepared and afterwards presented a constructive pro- 
gram for the treatment of the islands. He proposed to re- 
store them to their own people 15 years after the date 
of the treaty of Paris, with a provision for the neutraliza- 
tion of the territory, retaining naval bases for the United 



[93] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

States. This measure was widely commented upon and 
received the practically solid support of those who favored 
Filipino independence. The Democratic national plat- 
form of 1908 contained a plank indorsing this policy, 
expressed in language almost identical with the terms of 
Senator Stone's joint resolution. 

Throughout the entire discussion of tariff legislation 
dealing with the Philippines Senator Stone opposed free 
trade with the islands. In a notahle speech delivered 
April 20, 1909, he set forth in a strong argument his rea- 
sons for his position, based upon constitutional grounds 
and considerations of sound policy. He contended that 
if the doctrine which accepted the Philippines as a part 
of the United States was well founded no customs bar- 
riers of any kind should be raised against them, but that, 
if the Nation proposed to return the islands to their own 
people, it would be unwise to create such commercial 
relations as would make it difficult to accomplish our na- 
tional purpose, adding that we were under no such obli- 
gations to the Filipinos " as to make it our duty to sup- 
port their government or to build up their industry at the 
expense of our own." 

Probably his most active work in the Senate, covering 
a period of over seven years, was in the great Finance 
Committee, of which he was appointed a member on De- 
cember 8, 1910. Even before his service upon the com- 
mittee began he took an active part in tariff legislation 
and tariff discussions. He participated extensively in the 
debates on the Payne-Aldrich bill, the Canadian reciproc- 
ity measure, the schedule-by-schedule revision attempted 
in the Sixty-second Congress, and on the Underwood- 
Simmons bill — the present law. In the celebrated contest 
over the Payne-Aldrich bill, during which the majority 
party of the Senate divided into sharply defined factions, 
Senator Stone, still a minority Member of the Senate, was 



[94] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



conspicuous. Though not a member of the Finance Com- 
mittee at that time, he availed himself of the counsel of 
experts, conducted an independent research into the va- 
rious schedules, and carried on a vigorous fight in the 
open Senate for lower duties. Many of his exchanges 
with Mr. Aldrich, of Rhode Island, then the chairman of 
the Finance Committee, attracted national attention. 
Senator Stone may justly be termed one of the leaders in 
the fight against the bill, which probably aroused more 
intensity of feeling among the respective factions than 
any other tariff bill in our history, stimulating a greater 
variance of opinion with men of all parties. It was 
largely due to his fight on the Payne-Aldrich bill that his 
appointment to the first vacancy on the Finance Commit- 
tee was made. • 

During the last session of the Sixty-first Congress a 
heated contest developed in the Senate over the charges 
against William Lorimer, then a Senator from Illinois. 
Possibly none more bitter, and few more intense, involv- 
ing a personal issue, ever appeared in the Senate. Sena- 
tor Stone was not a member of the committee which in- 
vestigated the charges, but after the evidence had all been 
presented and Mr. Lorimer himself had addressed the 
Senate in his own behalf, Senator Stone, on February 28, 
1911, in an extended speech attacked Mr. Lorimer's posi- 
tion and declared his intention to vote to oust the 
Illinoisan upon the facts submitted. This speech was re- 
markably dispassionate, displaying in the most striking 
way the Senator's great powers of analysis and judg- 
ment. It was regarded by many as one of the best efforts 
of his senatorial service, and was undoubtedly of great 
weight in the final determination of the question. He 
dwelt strongly upon the ultimate responsibility of Mr. 
Lorimer for admitted irregularities in the legislature and 
challenged the correctness of Lorimer's interpretation of 



[95] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

his relations to his lieutenants, particularly a member of 
the Illinois lower house named Browne. Senator Stone 
said: 

Does it seem probable that Browne would discuss money con- 
siderations with his followers, make promises and afterwards 
keep them, with utter ignorance on Lorimer's part as to what 
was being done? Lorimer was in command, and he was to be 
beneficiary of the contest. Can Lorimer's lieutenants be guilty of 
these crimes and yet Lorimer himself, the beneficiary, be wholly 
innocent? 

This address is cited as one of the most powerful evi- 
dences of Mr. Stone's abhorrence of corrupt practices in 
politics. The question involved in this case was not 
partisan — party lines were wiped out in considering the 
facts. Senator Stone weighed the evidence and declined 
to compromise with what he considered a vicious thing. 
He believed the lllinoisan guilty of culpability in this con- 
nection, so declared and so voted, and his view finally 
prevailed. 

In 1910 a political upheaval resulted in the election of 
the first Democratic House of Representatives since 1892. 
In the new Congress Senator Stone, as a member of the 
Finance Committee, took a prominent part in support of 
the Canadian reciprocity treaty presented by President 
Taft. He was one of the most constant attendants upon 
the sessions of the committee, which were largely occu- 
pied for a time in extended hearings. It developed that 
many of the President's party associates in the Senate 
were opposed to the measure, so that a very considerable 
portion of its advocacy fell upon the shoulders of Senator 
Stone and his party colleagues. He was frequently called 
into consultation by the President and worked faith- 
fully and assiduously for the passage of the treaty. He 
was one of those who were keenly disappointed when the 
measure was rejected, owing to the fall of the Laurier 



[96] 



Address of Mr. Reed, of Missouri 



government in Canada through the elections in 1911 and 
the accompanying reversal of the policy of the Dominion. 

During this Congress the Democratic House, under a 
pledge to revise the tariff, passed several hills revising sep- 
arate schedules of the tariff law, including the free list, 
cotton and woolen manufactures, and so forth. These 
measures had a stormy passage through the Senate, but 
all of them were supported and in large measure spon- 
sored by Senator Stone in committee and upon the floor. 
Such of the bills as were passed by the Senate, through the 
cooperation of progressive Republican Senators with the 
Democrats, were vetoed by the President 

In the Democratic Senate of the Sixty-third Congress 
Senator Stone was the second ranking member of the 
Finance Committee and as such participated in the fram- 
ing of the tariff bill passed in 1913. He was the chairman 
of a subcommittee considering several of the most im- 
portant schedules. His responsibilities in this connection 
were very great and his labors arduous. His colleagues 
on the Finance Committee have already testified to the 
continuous and painstaking devotion of Senator Stone to 
the exacting duties of his position. He worked many 
weeks upon the schedules assigned to him. Anyone fa- 
miliar with the details of tariff legislation can well testify 
to the demands upon the legislator who deals with these 
matters in a conscientious way. It involved many tedious 
hours of listening to experts, manufacturers and consum- 
ers, importers and exporters, with many patient days and 
weeks of laborious research and discussion. 

Senator Stone applied himself to this vast undertaking 
with his usual thoroughness during consideration in com- 
mittee, upon the floor, and elsewhere. At the same time 
he contributed to the debates in the Senate many illumi- 
nating and striking utterances in support of the measure. 
A tariff bill, under the legislative system then prevailing, 



115654°— 19 7 [97] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Stone 

is a greater tax upon the legislator than almost any other. 
The Underwood-Simmons Act became a law in October, 
1913, and about a month later Senator Stone was taken 
critically ill, largely through overwork during the long 
period for the consideration of the tariff measure. His 
illness continued for nearly five months, developing a 
complication which indirectly contributed to the cause of 
his death. 

During his convalescence in the spring of 1914 Senator 
Bacon, of Georgia, chairman of the Committee on For- 
eign Relations, died, and Mr. Stone, the ranking majority 
member, was appointed to succeed him. He had served 
on tliis committee since April 23, 1908. He continued at 
the head of the committee until his death in April, 1918, 
covering a period of 10 years of service on the commit- 
tee. When he returned to the Senate after his illness, 
having scarcely recovered, the relations of the United 
States with Mexico had become strained to the point of 
breaking and Congress had passed the joint resolution 
justifying the course of the Executive in using the armed 
forces of the United States against Huerta. Senator Stone 
strongly supported throughout the measures of the Gov- 
ernment in dealing with the usurper. 

During his service at the head of the Foreign Relations 
Committee he piloted through the Senate many impor- 
tant treaties, including arbitration treaties, the so-called 
Bryan treaties for the advancement of peace, the conven- 
tion providing for the purchase of Danish West Indies, 
the Nicaraguan convention, and many others of minor 
importance. 

Mr. Martin of Kentucky. Mr. President, as a further 
mark of respect to the memory of the late distinguished 
Senator from Missouri and to the memory of the late dis- 
tinguished Senator from Kentucky, I move that the Sen- 
ate do now adjourn. 

[98] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



The motion was unanimously agreed to; and (at 3 
o'clock and 35 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
to-morrow, Monday, February 3, 1919, at 12 o'clock 
meridian. 

Monday, February 3, 1019. 
A message from the House of Representatives, by J. C. 
South, its Chief Clerk, transmitted to the Senate resolu- 
tions on the life, character, and public services of Hon. 
William J. Stone, late a Senator from the State of 
Missouri. 



[99] 



Proceedings in the House of Representatives 

Monday, April 15, 1918. 
The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
following prayer: 

O Thou who art supremely great, Infinite in all Thine 
attributes, our God and our Father; above all, through all, 
and in us all; make us, we beseech Thee, fit temples for 
the indwelling of Thy Spirit and tractable to its holy in- 
fluence; that we may conceive wisely, follow the dictates 
of a clear conscience, and stand firm in our convictions. 

Thus may we think well, live well, pray without ceasing, 
and be ready, when the summons comes, to pass on into 
the realms of the blest. 

Death has laid a heavy toll upon the congressional fam- 
ily, leaving us to mourn; by the passing of two faithful and 
conspicuous Senators, the wife of a Representative of this 
body, and one of the oldest and most trustworthy em- 
ployees of this House. 

Comfort us and their several families, by the faith once 
delivered to the saints, through Him who said, " I am the 
resurrection and the life; whosoever believeth on me 
shall never die." Amen. 

A message from the Senate, by Mr. Waldorf, its enroll- 
ing clerk, announced that the Senate had passed the 
following resolutions: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep regret and pro- 
found sorrow of the death of Hon. William Joel Stone, late a 
Senator from the State of Missouri. 

Resolved, That a committee of 12 Senators be appointed by the 
Vice President to take order for superintending the funeral of 
Mr. Stone, which will take place at 4 o'clock p. m. to-day at his 
late residence in this city. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect his remains be 
removed from his late home in this city to Nevada, Mo., for burial, 

[101] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

in charge of the Sergeant at Anns, attended by the committee, 
which shall have full power to carry these resolutions into effect. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these 
resolutions to the House of Representatives. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 

And that in compliance with the foregoing resolutions 
the Vice President had appointed as said committee Mr. 
Reed, Mr. Hitchcock, Mr. Smith of Arizona, Mr. Pittman, 
Mr. Jones of New Mexico, Mr. King, Mr. Kendrick, Mr. 
Gallinger, Mr. Smoot, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Sutherland, and Mr. 
Fernald. 

Mr. Shackleford. Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk the 
following resolutions and move their adoption. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. William J. Stone, a Senator of the United 
States from the State of Missouri. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 

Resolved, That a committee of 19 Members be appointed on the 
part of the House to join the committee appointed on the part of 
the Senate to attend the funeral. 

The resolutions were agreed to. 

The Speaker appointed as the committee to attend the 
funeral the following Memhers : Mr. Rucker, Mr. Shackle- 
ford, Mr. Booher, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Borland, Mr. Hamlin, 
Mr. Russell, Mr. Rubey, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Hensley, Mr. 
Igoe, Mr. Decker, Mr. Romjue, Mr. Dyer, Mr. Meeker, Mr. 
Linthicum, Mr. Temple, and Mr. Rainey. 

The Clerk read the following additional resolution : 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the House do now 
adjourn. 

Accordingly (at 3 o'clock and 30 minute p. m.) the 
House adjourned until to-morrow, Tuesday, April 16, 1918, 
at 12 o'clock noon. 

[1021 



Proceedings in the House 



Tuesday, April 16, 1918. 

Mr. Garrett of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, in announcing 
the Stone funeral on yesterday the Speaker of the House 
[Mr. Clark], of course, did not announce himself as a 
member of that committee. I think he ought officially to 
be a member of the committee, and I ask unanimous con- 
sent that his name be added to the list. 

The Speaker pro tempore. Without objection, the 
Speaker's name will be added to the list of the committee. 

There was no objection. 

Friday, December 27, 1918. 

Mr. Rucker. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
Sunday, February 2, 1919, be set aside for memorial ad- 
dresses on the life, character, and public services of the 
late Senator William Joel Stone, of Missouri, and the late 
Representative Jacob Edwin Meeker, of Missouri. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Missouri asks unani- 
mous consent that Sunday, February 2, 1919, be set aside 
for memorializing the late Senator Stone and the late Rep- 
resentative Meeker, both from the State of Missouri. Is 
there objection? 

There was no objection. 

Sunday, February 2, 1919. 
The House met at 12 o'clock noon. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
following prayer: 

Eternal God, Author of the Universe, Father of all souls, 
in the midst of the impenetrable mysteries which sur- 
round us, we come with profound faith, eternal hope, that 
in Thy wisdom, power, and goodness we shall be exalted, 
ennobled, glorified, in Thine own good time. 

Let Thy richest blessings descend upon us now as we 
gather here to give expression to the worth of the men 

[103] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

who were dignified by the people and made Members of 
the Congress of the United States. What they did to glo- 
rify a Nation of freemen will live and be a blessing to 
future generations. 

Let Thy loving arms be about their dear ones to comfort 
and sustain them in this hour of trial. Give them a vision 
of the larger life and help them to look forward to a re- 
union with their dear ones in a realm where mysteries 
shall be dissolved and the brightest hopes realized in the 
dispensation of Thy providence. Thorugh Him who died, 
that we might live. Amen. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will read the Journal. 

Mr. Rucker. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
the reading of the Journal may be dispensed with until 
to-morrow. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Missouri asks unani- 
mous consent that the reading of the Journal be dispensed 
with until to-morrow. Is there objection? [After a 
pause.] The Chair hears none. The Clerk will report 
the special order for to-day. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

On motion of Mr. Rucker, by unanimous consent, 
Ordered, That Sunday, February 2, 1919, be set apart for ad- 
dresses upon the life, character, and public services of Hon. 
William J. Stone, late a Senator from the State of Missouri, and 
the Hon. Jacob E. Meeker, late a Member of this House from the 
State of Missouri. 

Mi*. Rucker. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for 
the present consideration of the resolutions which I send 
to the Clerk's desk. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the resolutions. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended, 
that opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of Hon. 



[104] 



Proceedings in the House 



William J. Stone, late a Senator of the United States from the 
State of Missouri, and the Hon. Jacob E. Meeker, late a Member 
of this House from the State of Missouri. 

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory 
of the deceased, and in recognition of their distinguished public 
careers, the House, at the conclusion of the exercises of this 
day, shall stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to 
the families of the deceased. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 
Mr. Igoe took the chair. 



[105] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: When Gov. Benjamin Gratz Brown, one of 
the most hrilliant of all Missouri statesmen, on an historic 
occasion said, " Missouri is a grand State and deserves to 
be grandly governed," he uttered an immortal truth. He 
might have added, with equal veracity, " She deserves to 
be grandly represented in the Congress of the United 
States," and she has been in the main, particularly in the 
Senate, where paucity of members and length of tenure 
more surely fix a man in the public eye than service in the 
House. 

First and last, Missouri has commissioned 26 different 
men to represent her at the other end of the Capitol, in 
the less numerous branch of the National Legislature, in 
the Chamber of the Conscript Fathers, in " the Upper 
House of Congress," improperly so called, or, as Senator 
Morgan, of Alabama, would have it, " ambassadors of a 
sovereign State " to the Federal Government. Beginning 
with David Barton and Thomas Hart Benton, her pioneer 
Senators, who at once attracted general attention and 
challenged universal admiration by reason of their com- 
manding talents, down to this very hour, when, in the per- 
sons of James A. Reed and Selden P. Spencer she holds 
high position in that conspicuous arena, Missouri has 
taken second place to none of her sister States. 

These 26 Senators naturally divide themselves into two 
classes — the Barton line and the Benton line, 18 in the 
former and only 8 in the latter. 

In the Barton line are Barton himself, Alexander Buck- 
ner, Lewis F. Linn, David R. Atchison, James S. Green, 



[107] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

Waldo P. Johnson, Robert Wilson, Benjamin Gratz 
Brown, Charles D. Drake, Daniel T. Jewett, Francis P. 
Blair, Lewis V. Bogy, David H. Armstrong, James Shields, 
George G. Vest, William Joel Stone, Xenophen P. Wifley, 
and Selden P. Spencer. 

In the Benton line are Benton himself, Henry S. Geyer, 
Trusten Polk, John B. Henderson, Carl Schurz, Francis 
Marion Cockrell, William Warner, and James A. Reed. 

Lucky the man who gets into Barton's seat; luckier, far 
luckier, the man who secures that of Thomas H. Benton, 
as the precedents indicate a longer public life for him. 

An examination of the dates at which Missourians en- 
tered and left the Senate will disclose two curious facts 
in Missouri history. She is the first State that ever elected 
two men for five full consecutive terms to the Senate of 
the United States — " six Roman lustrums," as Benton was 
wont to boast in his pompous way. These were Benton 
and Cockrell. The only other State to do that is Maine, 
Missouri's political twin. Missouri was the first State that 
had only one Senator for any considerable length of time 
through failure to elect another. By reason of the unre- 
lenting warfare between the Bentonites and the anti- 
Bentonites the legislature chosen in 1854 never could and 
never did elect a Senator, as it was in duty bound to do, 
so that for two entire years Henry S. Geyer was Missouri's 
only Senator. 

What is more, the governor did not appoint or attempt 
to appoint anyone to fill the vacancy, nobody then dream- 
ing that the governor had such power. But in these later 
days several States have followed Missouri's example in 
failing to elect Senators, and, strange to say, divers gov- 
ernors have insisted on the right to fill vacancies by 
appointment under similar circumstances, until finally 
the Senate, after lengthy and ponderous debate, solemnly 
vindicated the wisdom and knowledge of constitutional 

[108] 



Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 



law possessed by the governor of Missouri in 1855 and 
1856, Sterling Price, by declaring that a governor has no 
right to make such ad interim appointment under such 
circumstances. 

Of Missouri's 26 Senators there were 18 Democrats, 1 
Whig, and 8 Republicans. Of 156 years of senatorial 
representation to which she has been entitled, 2 were not 
used, 6 fell to Whigs, 28 to Republicans, and 160 to Demo- 
crats. 

This roster of Missouri Senators is an array of names of 
which the Nation, no less than the State, may well be 
proud. There are many great men — scarcely a small 
one — in the list. 

Missouri is proud of her immeasureable physical re- 
sources, which will one day make her facile princeps 
among her sisters; but there is something else of which 
she is prouder still, and that is her splendid citizenship, 
consisting at this day of nearly 4,000,000 industrious, in- 
telligent, patriotic, progressive, law-abiding, God-fearing 
people. 

When questioned as to her riches she could with pro- 
priety imitate the example and quote the words of Cor- 
nelia, the mother of the heroic Gracchi, and, pointing to 
her children, say truthfully and pridefully, " These are 
my jewels." 

The foregoing remarks, with a few figures changed to 
bring the facts up to date, constitute the opening para- 
graphs in my speech presenting the statue of Gen. Frank 
P. Blair. They must still be of interest to Missourians, at 
least. 

Of these Senators, William Joel Stone was one of the 
most eminent and forceful. Like so many other men 
who have achieved high position in imperial Missouri, he 
was born in Kentucky. Good Bishop Berkely was both a 



[109] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Stone 

philosopher and a prophet when he wrote the familiar 
line: 

Westward the Star of Empire takes its way. 

It has heen so always. Asia peopled Europe; Europe 
peopled America; and now we are engaged in peopling 
the Philippines — thus belting the globe, reaching out to 
the cradle of the human race. Before the railroads de- 
flected travel from its natural course it is interesting to 
note how closely immigration hugged parallels of lati- 
tude. Until the cataclysm of the Civil War dislocated 
things the base of population in Missouri was composed 
of Virginians, Kentuckians, North Carolinians, and Ten- 
nesseeans, together with a sprinkling of the elite from 
every State in the Union and from every civilized nation 
in the world. 

It will interest Kentuckians and Missourians to re- 
fresh their memories with the fact that James B. McCreary, 
soldier, governor, and both Representative and Senator 
in Congress; David Rowland Francis, mayor, governor, 
Cabinet minister, and ambassador; and William Joel 
Stone, governor and both Representative and Senator in 
Congress, were all three born in Madison County, Ky. It 
is interesting to try to guess what would have happened 
and who would have come out on top if all three had re- 
mained in their native county. Judging from their ca- 
reers, and knowing that all three were ambitious all their 
days, and that they fought their way to place and power, 
it is absolutely safe to say that much friction and much 
resulting heat would have been engendered in the his- 
toric old county of Madison. 

The members of that distinguished trio were unlike in 
appearance and endowments in most respects, but were 
alike in being men of undoubted ability and of soaring 
ambition. Each in his own particular way was a skillful 



[110] 



Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 



political artist. Stone and Francis prove what a bright 
Kentuckian may come to in the rich soil of Missouri if 
transplanted young enough. 

I had an interesting and amusing experience growing 
out of the fact that Stone, Francis, and myself were all 
Kentuckians by birth. Most of you may not know it but 
it is true that Ambassador Francis pulls off a Fourth of 
July celebration of his own when he is at home in St. 
Louis. As president of the " Louisiana Purchase Exposi- 
tion," he erected a magnificent memorial building to 
Thomas Jefferson, and it is in that building he and his 
friends celebrate the birthday of the Republic. In 1915 
the Fourth fell on Sunday, Senator Stone and I speaking 
in different places in St. Louis. Ambassador Francis had 
his celebration that year on Monday, the 5th. Learning 
that both the Senator and myself were in the city, he 
drafted us and took us out to the Jefferson Memorial 
Building, where all three of us made speeches. The 
chairman of the meeting seemed to think it out of the or- 
dinary that all three were Kentuckians by birth and Mis- 
sourians by adoption. When he introduced Senator 
Stone, who spoke first, he enlarged on what appeared to 
him to be a remarkable coincidence. He repeated that 
formula when he introduced Gov. Francis, who came sec- 
ond. He rolled it as a sweet morsel under his tongue 
when he presented me. I began by saying: "It is true, 
as the chairman has stated thrice, that Senator Stone, 
Gov. Francis, and myself were all born in Kentucky for 
better or for worse, and I am reasonably certain that I 
could name certain Missourians who wish that all three 
of us had remained in ' The Dark and Bloody Ground.' " 

Col. Benton served in House and Senate, and to this 
day holds the Missouri record for congressional service — 
32 years; 30 in the Senate and 2 in the House — but the 



[111] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

governorsliip was denied him. Trusten Polk was gover- 
nor and Senator, but never in the House. James S. Green 
and Gen. Frank P. Blair served in both Houses of Con- 
gress, but were never governor. Blair's brilliant cousin, 
Benjamin Gratz Brown, reversing the usual order, was 
first United States Senator and then governor, but never 
in the House. Gen. John Miller, who served longer as 
governor of Missouri than any other man, served in the 
House, but not in the Senate; Gen. Stirling Price, John C. 
Edwards, Willard P. Hall, Joseph W. McClurg, Thomas 
T. Crittenden, and Alexander Monroe Dockery were all 
both governors and Bepresentatives in Congress, but 
never in the Senate. Trusten Polk and William J. Stone 
were the only two Missourians to go from the guberna- 
torial chair to the Senate, and in Stone's case there was 
a period of six years between ending as governor and be- 
ginning as Senator. He is the only Missourian to serve as 
both Bepresentative and Senator in Congress and as gov- 
ernor of his State. 

William J. Stone was a great Bepresentative, a great 
governor, and a great Senator. He was one of the most 
skillful and successful political leaders the State ever had. 
After a long and stormy career he had attained a sort 
of suzerainty over the Missouri Democrats. He did not 
accomplish that difficult feat by brass-band methods or 
by using a meat ax. He did it by persuasion, by diplo- 
macy, by consultation, and, above all, by being an excep- 
tionally good listener. When he was in St. Louis, Kansas 
City, Jefferson, St. Joe, or any other city or town in Mis- 
souri, the most prominent Democrats called on him in 
his rooms and consulted with him. That was his favorite 
method of ascertaining public opinion — his favorite plan 
of campaign — to converse with small groups of men and 
out of their various views to determine the best course to 
pursue. He preferred that way of doing things to large 



[112] 



Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 



and boisterous crowds; and because he did pursue that 
wise and successful procedure his enemies — and he 
possessed a large and enthusiastic assortment of them — 
fastened upon him the sobriquet of " Gum Shoe Bill " — 
which his friends and admirers, who composed a mighty 
host, took up and converted into a term of affection. 

He was a political strategist of high degree. Two in- 
stances will suffice. When he was a candidate for the 
gubernatorial nomination in a fierce and close contest 
and Col. Richard Dalton unexpectedly carried St. Louis, 
Stone immediately appealed to the rural districts and 
won, after a contest which roused the State to white heat 
from Des Moines River to Arkansas and from the Missis- 
sippi to the mouth of the raging Kaw. 

In subsequent bitter contests — and considering what a 
polite, mild-mannered man he was it is surprising how 
many bitter contests he had — when the metropolitan press 
unanimously assailed him with ferocity, he boldly and 
savagely assailed the metropolitan press, skillfully rallied 
the rural press to his support, and invariably came out 
victor. I am inclined to believe that he enjoyed the con- 
tests more than he did holding the offices — which as- 
sumption, if true, sheds some light on the never-settled 
old question which we debated when we were boys, 
" Whether there is more pleasure in pursuit than in 
possession." He was elected to the House three times, 
to the governorship once, and to the Senate three times. 
Notwithstanding the awful storm of vituperation which 
broke upon him in the later months of his life, I have no 
sort of doubt that he would have remained in the Senate 
for 15 years more had he lived so long. Even before his 
death the storm was receding, and when the great Sena- 
tor died the love of the generous people of the mighty 
State which had so often crowned him with her choicest 
honors and which he had served so long with pride and 

115654°— 19 8 [113] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

approved capacity returned to him in undiminished 
measure and augmented intensity. Since the mighty 
Benton was laid to rest in " The Great City of the Iron 
Crown " no such splendid funeral pageant did the people 
of Missouri arrange for any other of her illustrious sons 
as for Senator Stone. 

What manner of man was he? In his prime he was 
physically the typical Kentuckian — tall, slender, sinewy, 
lean of flank, high of head. He always reminded me of a 
Kentucky race horse in his best estate, needing neither 
whip nor spur to urge him on. 

Intellectually he was of a high order. His parents were 
neither rich nor extremely poor. They were what we in 
common parlance designate " good livers," and good liv- 
ing in the Blue Grass region of Kentucky is a status to 
which most folks never attain. In case of his father and 
mother Agur's prayer seems to have been answered, " Give 
me neither poverty nor riches." They were, however, 
able to give their son a university education. During his 
entire busy life he was a lover of good books and delighted 
to associate with learned people. He was familiar with 
the poets, but the books which he studied most were the 
best of all books — men and women. As a public speaker 
he stood high, being dowered with logic, wit, humor, 
sarcasm, and eloquence when he thought eloquence was 
appropriate to the theme, the occasion, and the place. 
Some of his speeches were gems, blending in artistic pro- 
portions the ingredients aforementioned. He was one of 
the most deliberate speakers I ever heard, and when in 
fine fettle it was a delight to listen to him analyze a sub- 
ject or excoriate an opponent. The dramatic quality he 
possessed in large degree. His facial mobility was almost 
equal to Tom Corwin's. His long black forelock, which was 
forever tumbling into his eyes, was one of his principal 
properties in public speeches. His deft manipulation of 

[114] 



Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 



that raven forelock was a joy to his friends and an irri- 
tation to his enemies. He loathed utterly a double-dealer, 
a hypocrite, a mountebank, or a liar. He never pretended 
to be better than he was; he loved his friends, who fully 
returned his love; and after being the stormy petrel of 
Missouri for a generation grew ever gentler with increas- 
ing years and forgave all his enemies except a very few 
who had treated him so outrageously and slandered him 
so maliciously that they had forfeited any claim to for- 
giveness. 

Here is an incident which illustrates his character, his 
method, and his energy : 

It will be remembered that in the early spring of 1911 
newspapers began to mention me for the Democratic 
presidential nomination. The mentioning grew in volume 
and frequency until by November it was universally dis- 
cussed in the public press and in private conversation. 
Senator Stone and I had never been enemies but we had 
not been intimate friends. It will also be remembered 
that the public press was also mentioning Gov. Joseph W. 
Folk very frequently. A more or less active argument was 
in progress between my supporters and his as to which of 
us should have the Missouri delegation. In the meantime 
Senator Stone spoke no word, gave no sign as to which of 
us he favored, if either. It happened that in the last part 
of November Dr. Bartoldt's friends gave him a banquet at 
the Southern Hotel, which he deserved and which he was 
anxious I should attend — which I did. That afternoon I 
was out at the home of Judge Virgil Rule, one of my old 
pupils, three or four miles from the business center of St. 
Louis. The Judge had invited about a dozen of my 
friends to be present to consult about starting my cam- 
paign. Unexpectedly Senator Stone walked in. The 
other gentlemen, taking it for granted that he had come to 
see me, after shaking hands with him adjourned to an- 
other room. 

[115] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

So soon as they disappeared this brief dialogue ensued: 
Senator Stone said, " Mr. Speaker, I came out to ask you 
just one question for my own guidance — are you a candi- 
date for President?" I replied, "Senator, men do not 
announce for President as they do for constable." He 
answered: "Tell that to the marines. I want to know. I 
have seen it in the papers. I have seen men who assert 
that you are a candidate but I never saw any man who 
said you had told him. I desire to know definitely." I 
said: " Yes, Senator, I am a candidate." Without another 
word, he picked up his hat, cane, gloves, and overcoat and 
went down town. Immediately headquarters were en- 
gaged and the fight was on. 

From that hour until the announcement was made that 
Gov. Woodrow Wilson was nominated Senator Stone 
could not have worked harder for me if he had been my 
father, brother, and son rolled into one. 

He was a delicate-looking man in those days; but the 
amount of work he did was amazing. I formed a deep 
affection for the man which will abide with me so long as 
life lasts. To speak of him is to me a labor of love. 



[116] 



Address of Mr. Alexander, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: Senator Stone's death occasioned the 
Members of the Missouri delegation in Congress genuine 
sorrow. He was recognized as a wise counselor and 
sagacious leader, and was often consulted by his Demo- 
cratic colleagues on questions affecting the interests of 
the party, of which he was one of the recognized leaders, 
and of the great State whose welfare and prosperity 
always had a large part in his thought and gave him deep 
concern. 

In conference he was always considerate of the opinion 
of others and most courteous and sympathetic. He was 
painstaking in his efforts to get the viewpoint of his col- 
leagues, and with rare skill composed differences of opin- 
ion and secured unity of action. He was easy of ap- 
proach, truly democratic in his manners, and I believe I 
may say of him that he enjoyed the affectionate regard of 
every Member in the delegation, Democrats and Repub- 
licans alike. We one and all deeply deplore his death. 

Senator Stone was born in Madison County, Ky., May 7, 
1848. His father, William Stone, and his mother, Mildred 
Phelps, were members of old Kentucky families. The 
Stone family lived in Virginia prior to moving to Ken- 
tucky. Senator Stone's grandfather was one of the pio- 
neers of Kentucky, and it is said of him that he served as 
the first surveyor of Madison County, and that Thomas 
Stone, an ancestor of the family, was a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence and a member of a well- 
known Virginia family. 

Madison County, Ky., furnished Missouri two of her 
most distinguished governors, William Joel Stone and 
David Roland Francis, and many of Missouri's good citi- 
zens in all walks of life were born in Madison County, 



[117] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 



Ky., or are descendants of Madison County stock. In his 
early youth Senator Stone attended the common schools 
in his native State. At the age of 13 he moved to Colum- 
hia, Mo., and entered the State university. He studied 
law in the office of his hrother-in-law, Col. S. Turner, then 
and for many years after one of the leading lawyers of 
central Missouri. He was admitted to the bar in 1869. 
Shortly thereafter he moved to Bedford, Ind., where he 
formed a partnership with one A. B. Carleton, but re- 
mained there only a few months, returning to Missouri in 
1870 and locating at Nevada, the county seat of Vernon 
County. He rose rapidly in the affairs of the county and 
soon became one of the leading members of his com- 
munity. He was prosecuting attorney of Vernon County 
for one term (1873-1875) and was a presidential elector 
on the Tilden and Hendricks ticket in 1876. That was 
one of the most memorable presidential campaigns fol- 
lowing the Civil War, and many a young and spirited 
lawyer in Missouri got his first baptism in politics in that 
campaign. 

Senator Stone was a Member of the Forty-ninth, 
Fiftieth, and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1885-March 
3, 1891) ; declining to make the race for renomination, he 
announced that he would be a candidate for the governor- 
ship to succeed Gov. David R. Francis. 

Senator Stone's race for governor brought him into 
great prominence throughout the State. He won the 
nomination after a memorable contest, in which Hon. 
Richard Dalton, of Ralls County, was his chief opponent. 
Much bitterness was engendered in the campaign, and 
the Republicans regarded the time opportune to come 
back into popular favor in Missouri. 

The Republicans nominated Maj. William Warner, of 
Kansas City, as their candidate for governor. Maj. War- 
ner was a veteran of the Civil War and a member of one 



[118] 



Address of Mr. Alexander, of Missouri 

of the leading law firms of Kansas City and was regarded 
a fine lawyer and a public speaker of rare skill and elo- 
quence. He had been a leader of his party in the State 
for many years and had enjoyed many political honors. 
He also held high rank in the Grand Army of the Republic. 
He was very popular with the Union veterans of the Civil 
War. The Republicans regarded Maj. Warner as the very 
strongest candidate they could name to contest with Sen- 
ator Stone for the governorship of the State. Maj. War- 
ner adopted as his slogan, " Stand up for Missouri "; this 
slogan was quickly taken up by the Republican leaders 
over the State and passed on to the rank and file, and 
coupled with it was the cry, " Poor old Missouri." This cry 
undertook to picture the plight of the State under the ad- 
ministrations of such distinguished Democratic governors 
as Silas Woodson, Charles Hardin, John S. Phelps, 
Thomas P. Crittenden, John S. Marmaduke, Albert Moore- 
house, and David R. Francis, than whom no State in the 
Union ever had more able and efficient chief executives. 
Stone accepted the issue tendered by the Republicans and 
contrasted the administrations from Woodson to Francis 
with the Republican administrations of Govs. McClurg 
and Fletcher. His speech in opening the campaign 
was a masterpiece of sarcasm and eloquence, and re- 
viewed with cruel incisiveness the record of McClurg's 
and Fletcher's administrations. His speech was quickly 
given wide publicity throughout the State. It was a great 
speech. The Republicans had planned an aggressive cam- 
paign, but soon found themselves on the defensive, and 
continued so throughout the campaign. It is needless to 
say Senator Stone was triumphantly elected, along with 
all his associates on the State ticket. 

My only purpose in calling attention to this campaign 
and Senator Stone's part in it is to emphasize my convic- 
tion that that was the turning point in his career. If he 



[119] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

had proven himself commonplace or had failed in his 
ability to measure up to the high duties that devolved 
upon him as the standard bearer of the Democratic Party 
in that campaign, his career in all probability would have 
closed with his term as governor. I actively supported 
Senator Stone for the nomination for governor, and our 
acquaintance, which ripened into friendship, began in 
that campaign. 

It is interesting to recall that a little more than a decade 
later Senator Stone and Maj. Warner served as colleagues 
in the United States Senate, Senator Stone succeeding 
Missouri's little giant, Senator George G. Vest, in 1903, and 
Maj. Warner succeeding Missouri's grand old Confeder- 
ate veteran and statesman, Senator Francis M. Cockrell, 
in 1905. Whatever asperities the campaign of 1892 en- 
gendered when they were pitted against each other for 
governor had long since been forgotten. They were both 
chivalrous and lovable men. 

Senator Stone was a leader of men. He had a great 
and devoted following in the State of Missouri. He held 
a high place in the leadership of the Democratic Party 
in the Nation. No man ever gave more generously of his 
time and money and talents to his part}' than did Senator 
Stone. The success of his party was ever a matter of the 
deepest concern to him. He did not seek place and power 
to enrich himself financially, but as an opportunity for 
larger service to his party and country. He believed in 
the principles of the Democratic Party with all the in- 
tensity of his nature and that the happiness and pros- 
perity of the people could be best vouchsafed under a 
Democratic administration. He was a man of great cour- 
age. He was an honorable antagonist. He counted 
among his closest personal friends men with whom he 
differed widely in politics. 



[120] 



Address of Mr. Alexander, of Missouri 

Just before the entrance of the United States into the 
war with Germany Senator Stone opposed the armed- 
neutrality bill. He was charged with filibustering to 
defeat it. This he denied. The criticism of his action 
became so bitter that the General Assembly of Missouri, 
the majority in both branches being Senator Stone's per- 
sonal and political friends, adopted a resolution demand- 
ing support of the President. While Senator Stone was 
not mentioned in the resolutions by name, it was well 
understood at the time that they reflected the sentiments 
of the Democracy of Missouri and what they regarded 
his duty in the crisis then impending. 

Senator Stone's opposition to the declaration of the war 
with Germany was open and fearless. Although chairman 
of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the Senate, he 
declined to take charge of the war resolution as was ex- 
pected of him by the administration. He transferred his 
leadership to Senator Hitchcock, of Nebraska, next rank- 
ing Democratic member on the committee. His attitude 
on those two resolutions was typical of his attitude toward 
the world war. He believed that America's participation 
in the war should be avoided if possible, but when the 
die was cast for war he accepted the decision without 
further question and took his place with the supporters 
of the war measures and consistently maintained that 
attitude until death closed his eventful career. 

When we reflect that under the Constitution the power 
to declare war is vested in the Congress of the United 
States and not in the Chief Executive, and the responsi- 
bility is personal to each Senator and Member of the 
House of Representatives, we can well understand how 
any Senator or Representative clothed with such a tre- 
mendous responsibility might hesitate to come to a deci- 
sion involving his country in a war with all its dire con- 



[121] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

sequences. If Senator Stone had lived and had been a 
candidate for Senator in 1920 and the people of Missouri 
had had more time and larger opportunity to analyze his 
motives and understand the tremendous responsibility 
from which he shrank, they would have regarded his con- 
duct in a more kindly light, and he might again have won 
popular favor. 

The St. Louis Republic, in an editorial following the 
death of Senator Stone, said: 

Stone was a master of politics. No one of his generation in 
this State showed such consummate ability to handle men or 
mold opinion. He never refused a fight when he thought it neces- 
sary, and his victories were for the most part hard won in open 
contest. He was true to his friends, and to this fact, coupled 
with an uncanny knack of sizing up a situation and acting vigor- 
ously, boldly at the chosen moment, may be attributed his great 
success as a leader. 

Senator Stone's was a long and distinguished career. 
He held many offices of trust and honor. His life work 
is ended. He will ever be classed as one of Missouri's 
most distinguished citizens. 

Senator Stone was married to Sarah Louise Winston, 
April 2, 1874, and his wife and three children — Mrs. John 
G. Parkinson, of St. Joseph; United States Circuit Judge 
Kimbrough Stone, of Kansas City; and Miss Mabel Stone — 
survive him. His domestic life was ideal. He was loved 
with the deepest affection by his wife and children. To 
them his death is an irreparable loss. 

Eloquent testimony of the high esteem in which Sena- 
tor Stone was held by the people of Missouri was shown 
when his remains lay in state at the State capitol at 
Jefferson City. Rich and poor alike, among whom he 
had made his home for many years, and leading citizens, 
in official and unofficial life, from even,' section of the 
State assembled to pay a tribute of respect to his memory. 



[122] 



Address of Mr. Alexander, of Missouri 

His last resting place is in the cemetery at the city of 
Nevada, where he first entered upon the career in which 
he was destined to become distinguished in after years. 
Surrounded and mourned by the friends of his early 
manhoodj who had watched his career with affectionate 
interest and pride, the mortal remains of Senator Stone 
were given a last resting place in Deepwood Cemetery. 

The name and brilliant public career of William Joel 
Stone will adorn one of the brightest and most interesting 
chapters in the history of Missouri. 



[123] 



Address of Mr. Ferris, of Oklahoma 

Mr. Speaker: I knew United States Senator William 
Joel Stone all my life. I lived in southern Missouri and 
knew him during his public days there. During the early 
part of it I was a young chap, hut I knew him as Con- 
gressman, as governor, as Senator, and as man. He 
played a full part in each role. Death always comes too 
soon, and this is only emphasized as it comes home to us 
with our families and our friends. The adage is em- 
phasized when it comes home to the life of a man who has 
spent his entire life in usefulness and activity, and such 
was the life of Senator Stone. I shall not in the few 
words I utter here to-day try to place Senator Stone on any 
unnatural pedestal. If he were in the flesh here this day, 
it would not be his desire. He spent no time, Mr. Speaker, 
in eulogistic appeals to his Creator " that he was not as 
other men," but he preferred to be one of them, to think 
and act as other men. He was one of men. 

It is quite the custom when men are called to that last 
rest to picture them in some unnatural pose. That would 
not be Senator Stone's desire. I know of no tribute more 
beautiful to pay to the memory of a man than to say that 
he preferred to be as other men and preferred to be one 
of them, as distinguished from constantly drawing his 
skirts about him and saying, " I thank God I am not as 
other men." When I see life ebbing away I am always 
impressed with the certainty of death and the shortness 
of the time we may spend here. The thought that is ever 
uppermost in my mind is that every moment here ought 
to be spent in some useful endeavor. It ought to increase 
the ambition to emphasize that thought in the minds of 
all of us. Senator Stone as Congressman, as governor, 
and as Senator of the State of my birth honored Missouri 



[124] 



Address of Mr. Ferris, of Oklahoma 

as Missouri has ever honored hirn. He honored the Na- 
tion and the Nation honored him. He was loved and re- 
spected by his friends as no other man in Missouri has 
been loved and respected. 

I have man}' tender ties for Missouri and Missourians. 
I was born there, married there, educated there, and cast 
my first vote there. I have felt it was only proper to say 
these few words, due to my own acquaintance with Sena- 
tor Stone, due to my residence in Missouri and my birth- 
place there. I have been honored by an invitation to pay 
this short tribute to his memory and in loving remem- 
brance of him as a friend, as a man, and as a statesman. 
He was true to every trust; he was a man; he was a Mis- 
sourian; he was an American. 



[125] 



Address of Mr. Dickinson, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: The life of Senator William Joel Stone 
was an eventful one, filled with distinguished puhlic serv- 
ice. He was horn in Madison County, Ky., on May 7, 1848. 
He came to Missouri in his early youth, first to Boone 
County, and attended the University of Missouri, at Co- 
lumhia, from which institution of learning he was a grad- 
uate; and later there was conferred on him by this univer- 
sity the degree of doctor of laws. 

In his early manhood he moved to Vernon County, in 
southwest Missouri, and was admitted to the bar in 1869. 
He practiced law at Nevada, Mo., and attained high rank 
in an active practice, winning success by his untiring in- 
dustry and his marked ability as a lawyer and as a gifted 
public speaker. He served one term as prosecuting attor- 
ney of his county, and afterwards served with conspicuous 
ability his great district in the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, and 
Fifty-first Congresses. 

My first accpaaintance with William J. Stone was in 
1878, at the congressional convention in Carthage, Mo., 
when he was a candidate for Congress. There were six 
candidates in that contest. It was a great convention, 
lasting several days — the field against Charles H. Morgan, 
the popular sitting Member — resulting in the nomination 
of Maj. Waddell, of Greene County. Over that conven- 
tion presided M. E. Benton, a parliamentarian of ability, 
who afterwards served in Congress for 10 years with 
distinction. 

Several times did Stone contest for a seat in Congress 
from his district before he was successful. He battled for 
congressional honors with such men as Morgan, of Barton; 
Waddell, of Greene; Ferguson, of St. Clair; Bassett, of 

[12G] 



Address of Mr. Dickinson, of Missouri 

Bates; Salmon, of Henry; De Armond, of Dade, and 
finally winning in 1882 in a close contest in which the 
other candidates in the convention were Morgan, Aber- 
nathy, and De Armond — all strong men and worthy. 
Later the gifted De Armond was elected to Congress 
for 10 consecutive terms and made a great record and 
a national reputation. 

After serving in Congress for three terms William J. 
Stone voluntarily retired and returned to the practice of 
the law in his home city of Nevada, Mo. Within two years 
after leaving Congress Stone was nominated, in a notable 
contest with Richard Dalton as his principal opponent, 
running as "Farmer" Dalton, for governor of Missouri. 
Dalton carried the big cities of Missouri with the support 
of the labor vote, except Kansas City, which had a candi- 
date of its own in the person of Judge James Gibson. 
William J. Stone had more farmer delegates in the nomi- 
nating State convention at Jefferson City than all the other 
candidates combined, and was nominated by reason of 
that support. He bade defiance to the corporation-con- 
trolled vote of the great cities and won by reason of his 
popular strength in the country. He won his election in 
November by a great majority over Maj. William Warner 
as his opponent, the popular idol of the Republican 
Party in Missouri, afterwards United States Senator from 
Missouri. Maj. Warner opened his campaign at Sedalia, 
Mo., in a speech widely published and circulated, the text 
of which, as I recall, was " Stand up for Missouri." The 
Republican organ of Missouri, the St. Louis Globe-Demo- 
crat, had rung the changes on " Poor old Missouri " by 
reason of Democratic rule, and in the shadow of this 
attack Maj. Warner had taken his text " Stand up for 
Missouri," charging a need of change of administration 
by reason of Democratic rule, and putting his seal of ap- 



[127] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

proval upon the Republican cry of " Poor old Missouri." 
William J. Stone opened his campaign in the city of St. 
Louis in a speech, the most notable ever made in his public 
career, and answered every attack of the Republican 
organ— the Globe-Democrat — and the charges made by 
his Republican opponent — Maj. Warner — against Demo- 
cratic rule. 

This great speech when made and circulated as a cam- 
paign document throughout the State made unnecessary 
any further campaign, though the usual speaking cam- 
paign was conducted to a successful end, using Stone's 
speech as a text. That speech was a sufficient answer to 
every attack made upon the State under Democratic 
administration, as compared with Republican misrule in 
the days following the Civil War. It was the most master- 
ful address and appeal ever made, in my judgment, to the 
electorate of the State, and resulted in the triumphant 
election of this great Missourian, who served his State as 
governor for four years with conspicuous ability, when he 
again retired to private life and entered again upon the 
practice of his profession in the city of St. Louis. 

After a brief while he became a candidate for the 
United States Senate and succeeded the gifted George G. 
Vest, who had retired after serving his State for four 
terms with great and distinguished ability — a colleague of 
Gen. Francis Marion Cockrell, who served as Senator for 
five terms, or 30 years, with like great ability — a great 
Democrat of wonderful personal popularity — loved and 
respected for his great worth and popular service. 

Senator Stone was first elected Senator by the Legisla- 
ture of Missouri in January, 1903, and reelected in 1909, 
and in 1914, by popular vote, for the term which would 
have ended on March 4, 1921. In my judgment, if Sena- 
tor Stone had lived and retained his health he would 



[128] 



Address of Mr. Dickinson, of Missouri 

have continued to serve his great State in the Senate of 
the United States by a reelection at the end of this term, 
in the middle of which he passed into the great beyond. 

He was a worthy successor of Benton and Blair, of Vest 
and Cockrell, of James S. Green and Waldo P. Johnson, 
of B. Gratz Brown and Carl Schurz and John B. Hender- 
son, and the others who filled with honor and distinction 
that office of high trust — a galaxy of men of merit. 

No public man in Missouri ever had a greater personal 
following of ardent and loyal friends than Senator Wil- 
liam J. Stone, and they were found in every section of the 
State, ready to help and sustain him in every contest. 
He had filled every position of trust with singular ability 
and with an honesty of purpose that made successful his 
great public career. He was a successful lawyer, a 
worthy Bepresentative in Congress, a great governor, the 
only governor of Missouri since the Civil War elected 
again to high position. He was a fearless champion of 
the rights of the people against the domination of selfish 
corporate interests. He won success against the bitter 
opposition of corporate power and the attacks of the great 
press in the great cities. He had no great paper to cham- 
pion his cause. He knew the people and knew how to 
arouse them in support of his efforts to win, regardless of 
the organized opposition that continued to combat him 
in his great public career. The country press was his 
organ. 

Senator Stone had a great heart. He not only loved 
his friends and the great State that honored him so often, 
but his heart beat in sympathy with the masses of the 
people, whom he loved and trusted and in whom he be- 
lieved. He loved fair play, he hated Irypoerisy, and was 
incapable of a mean or a small act. He led an honest and 
courageous life and left an honored name as a rich legacy 
to his relatives and friends. 

115654°— 10 9 [129] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

Senator Stone was a man of strong convictions, of great 
courage, and dared to follow the dictates of his own con- 
science, regardless of the consequences that might follow. 
No one doubted his honesty of purpose or the courage of 
his convictions. He followed the dictates of his own 
conscience with a courage unsurpassed in the political 
life of Missouri politics. 

I knew Senator Stone well. For nearly 40 years I had 
been his personal and political friend. I had tried to help 
him in his struggles for political preferment, for Con- 
gress, governor, and Senator. His life was a continual 
battle. Our relations were close and intimate. He loved 
his friends and they loved and honored him. They 
believed in him. He knew men, their strength and their 
weaknesses. He knew the motives that prompted men to 
action. He knew the right and dared do it. He feared 
no man or political interests. He was a leader in his 
party, State, and Nation, and high in its councils. He 
helped to make its nominations and its platforms. He 
wrote its great declarations upon which it went to battle 
with its political opponents. He believed in the Demo- 
cratic Party and loved its organization, and believed its 
success was best for the whole country. He loved his 
country as ardently as any man, and his great heart 
almost broke when he saw it involved in a great world 
war into which he had hoped it would not be drawn. 
However his friends may have differed with him on any 
great question, no man ever doubted his honesty or his 
patriotism. 

He was a national character of great ability and power 
at all times, and his great character and distinguished 
patriotic services won him the respect and admiration 
of all who knew him. He was a leader among men. He 
has passed into the great eternity, mourned by the thou- 
sands who knew him and loved him and honored him. 



[130] 



Address of Mr. Dickinson, of Missouri 

Thousands came from far and near to see him laid away 
in his last resting place in the beautiful cemetery in his 
much-loved city of Nevada, where he had lived, where 
his multitude of friends had helped him in his ambition 
to rise to high place in the service of his country. Peace 
to his ashes. God bless the memory of the much-loved 
William Joel Stone. 



[131] 



Address of Mr. Dyer, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: Missouri lost a splendid citizen, a great 
public servant, in the death of Senator Stone. The distin- 
guished Speaker of our House [Mr. Clark], my colleague 
from Missouri, paid a deserved and a fitting tribute in his 
address to the life and public service of the Senator. 

Senator Stone was very close to the people of Missouri; 
that was demonstrated by many incidents in his long ca- 
reer. Like other men in public life who take a determined 
position upon public questions, he had, of course, his op- 
ponents in his own party; but, as the Speaker has said, 
Senator Stone was a man who was not afraid to meet his 
enemies in the open and who would fight for what he 
believed to be right. 

Probably that came from the fact, alluded to by the 
Speaker, that the Senator, whose death we mourn to-day 
and pay tribute to, came from the State of Kentucky. 
Kentucky furnished to Missouri some of our most splen- 
did citizens, men who have rendered great service. It is 
true, as the Speaker has said, that Missouri in its early 
days was made up largely of men and women who came 
to it from States like Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. 
I am proud of those men and women who came to Mis- 
souri when it needed men and women of strong character 
and determination and who helped shape its destiny and 
make it the great State that it now is. 

I feel some little personal pride in that myself, from the 
fact that I am a descendant of some of that stock. My 
father was born in Virginia and my mother in Kentucky, 
and I know, from their lives and from the things that they 
stood for and did, that they believed in everything that 
was for the best in public and in private life. God bless 
them, is my prayer. 

[132] 



Address of Mr. Dyer, of Missouri 



So to-day, in paying tribute to those men and those 
women who came from those States to help make Mis- 
souri what it is, I can join not only in paying tribute to the 
life and public service of our Senator, but also in paying 
tribute to the other splendid men and women who did so 
much for our State and to testify anew to my love and af- 
fection for my good father and mother, who were a part 
of that great citizenship. 

Senator Stone gave the greater part of his life to the 
service of the people of Missouri and the people of the 
Nation. He rendered conspicuous, able, and brilliant 
service, and, although of a different political party from 
his, I say most truthfully and candidly that I think Sena- 
tor Stone was one of the ablest public servants that Mis- 
souri has ever had. I feel that we have lost a public serv- 
ant, and feel privileged to enter in the Record my judg- 
ment, as one of the Representatives of Missouri, as to the 
able public service of Senator William Joel Stone. 



[133] 



Address of Mr. Booher, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: This occasion arouses within me a re- 
newed sorrow for the loss of a cherished personal friend 
who permitted none of the many distinctions of a long- 
honored life of public service to mar or stem the warm 
current of the trust and affection he gave me. I wish to 
record here somewhat of my sincere estimate that in his 
taking away the State and Nation he served have them- 
selves lost no truer friend than in William J. Stone dead, 
who, living, had no deeper delight and held no higher 
purpose than to serve them for their happiest advance- 
ment and noblest elevation. His experience, his learning, 
his accomplishments, and his generous heart equipped 
him for the most eminent trust of our representative 
manner of government. 

Naturally, thinking of him now, my heart turns first to 
the place and the scenes that form the picture of our 
friendship's beginning. I came here February 24, 1889, 
to serve the unexpired term of a deceased Representative, 
the Hon. James N. Burnes. Here I met the late Senator. 
Here began the forming of ties which the passing of 
more than twenty-five years have only enriched and 
strengthened, such ties of mutual esteem and considera- 
tion that now, in these moments of regretful reflection 
that an ending of all pulsing, responsive friendships is 
inevitable, I am fain to seek somehow the consolation that 
recollection affords of the man I loved and who gener- 
ously gave me the affection I may no longer enjoy. Thus 
only memory's alchemy may turn the gloom of mourn- 
ing into golden light. 

William Joel Stone, born 70 years ago in Madison 
County, Ky., began his career as a statesman — destined 
to become known and honored among America's highest 



[134] 



Address of Mr. Booher, of Missouri 

and best — more than 35 years ago. It was with the first 
year of the first Cleveland administration that he started 
a service of three terms in this House. In its six years 
he was brought into contact and relation with the most 
famous representatives of our times. His talents for 
public service, his gifts and graces of speech and bearing, 
were such as suffered no depreciation of contact with 
the qualities of the great men about him. John G. Car- 
lisle was the Speaker of the House, and during Mr. 
Stone's years there were in this great arena for national 
heart expression such men as Samuel J. Randall, Sunset 
Cox, Roger Q. Mills, William R. Morrison, Pig Iron Kelley, 
John W. Daniel, William P. Hepburn, Charles R. Crisp, 
David B. Culberson, long gone from the place they illu- 
minated with their fine and lustrous personalities, and 
with only two scarcely less distinguished happily yet 
among living American statesmen still in the public serv- 
ice, Knute Nelson of Minnesota and Joseph G. Cannon of 
Illinois. These great men represented every part of this 
Nation. Ardently devoted to their several constituencies, 
they were scarcely less fervent in their loyalty to the all- 
embracing Federal institution and the first creature of 
the Constitution, the House of Representatives. But in 
the expression of these endowments of faith and accom- 
plishments of intellectual enterprise none excelled Wil- 
liam J. Stone. 

In his fertile mentality grew a remarkable variety of 
capacities for public service and enlightening public in- 
struction. His speeches and conversations on the floor 
of the House and in the committee conferences were 
illuminating, persuasive, and so entertaining as always 
to recall with pleasure. To me it was ever a recollection 
that made me proud that he was my friend and fellow 
Missourian. He did honor to the name of his State 
wherever he went, whether in the public service or as a 



[135] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

trusted councilor in political party service. He was a 
Democrat of Democrats in the most Democratic of States. 
For his expression of himself as such he was especially 
popular and honored in Missouri. In his participation in 
the affairs of representative government for all the States 
of the Union he was no less sincerely and constantly and 
courageously a Democrat. I do not believe a man has 
lived since the day of the Father of American Democracy, 
Thomas Jefferson, the greatest apostle of representative 
government the world has ever known, whose mind and 
heart were truer to the rights of humanity than the mind 
and heart of William J. Stone. Like Jefferson, to him the 
greatest of all liberties was the liberty of mind and con- 
science to achieve for the individual unrestrained by gov- 
ernment the best things possible. In this was he one of the 
greatest of American Democrats. With all the ardor of a 
virile, sympathetic nature he was at all times partisan to 
the principles that exalt the name of Jefferson and which 
even now shine with new glory in the triumph of the 
American and allied armies over the implacable foes of 
democracy. 

In the Senate, where he began his service 15 years ago, 
being at his death in the middle of his third term, the 
superior scope for intellectual energy afforded by that 
great body afforded him fit opportunity for the exercise 
of his conspicuous abilities. His speeches and even his 
most casual contributions to its adventurous debates are 
among the most finished ornaments of the Senate's lit- 
erary record. He touched no subject he did not embellish 
with the attractive suggestions of a lively imagination 
bodied forth in the comely raiment of excellent phrase. 
In the clash of differing views he will be remembered 
with admiration by his friends and recalled with respect 
by his adversaries in contention. Partisan as he was, 
always expectantly looked to as a Democratic leader, his 

[136] 



Address of Mr. Booher, of Missouri 

loyalty to party at no time in his long public and political 
career marred his friendships, which were numerous and 
widely extended. No intellectual divergence of view 
from his convictions altered the cordiality of his relations 
with men in any position. Incapable of submerging him- 
self in the presence of political opposition and before the 
assaults of word and act upon principles he cherished, 
Senator Stone, like all eminent and forceful Americans, 
was not without his share of enemies. He was at times 
the target of bitter criticisms. He rarely gave evidence 
that they disturbed him except when they brought into 
question the integrity of his motives. He either bore 
himself silently erect and serene in the little storms of 
party weather or countered the blows of condemnation 
and ridicule with thrusts of wit and ironical allusion that 
effectually weakened opposition. No one can say that he 
was ever worsted in debate or his resourceful capacity 
depreciated in any controversy. 

Senator Stone's main activities in the Senate were as 
member of two of its most important committees, Finance 
and Foreign Relations. As chairman of the Foreign Re- 
lations Committee he held a parliamentary post for which 
he was peculiarly and preeminently fitted. It had of all 
committees the most vital relations with the great question 
of the world war. When the history of that war in its 
domestic aspect here and its political incidents and effects 
shall have been truly told it will be seen, I have not the 
slightest doubt, that in the haste of excited judgments of 
the war period Senator Stone was sometimes unjustly 
assailed for what was incorrectly represented as his atti- 
tude. He truly represented that large body of sane Ameri- 
cans who are averse to war and would endure much 
within honor to avoid quarrels that mean death and 
crippling to countless numbers of human beings. But I 
shall not attempt to go any further into the story of Sena- 

[137] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

tor Stone's share in the final determination of the United 
States to enter the war. Being in, he cast his entire lot of 
mind and heart into the issue. The most impartial histo- 
rian will do him due justice. He will be found, I am 
confident, to have been far more consistent and intellectu- 
ally righteous than many who held high places and agreed 
with him in his reluctance to join the war who afterwards 
became the foremost zealots in its prosecution. He turned 
all the rare gifts of his nature to the support of his coun- 
try's cause, ever with the constant prayer for victory 
breathing with his presence in all company. 

I have said that Senator Stone in his congressional serv- 
ice touched no subject he did not embellish. It is a truth 
that will stand forth freshly with every examination of the 
part he bore in public discussions. His contributions more 
than adorned debate. They had a practical strength and 
an aptness of suggestion which were invaluable aids to 
constructive legislation. I cite a single instance of this 
rare equipment for the most exalted public service as 
afforded in the Senate. It occurred but a little while 
before his death. A man of comparatively frail physical 
structure, he was more constantly energetic and punctual 
at the post of duty than very many stronger men. The 
Senate was discussing the final shaping of the railway 
administration bill. Then there arose through Senator 
Stone's quick apprehension of a demand of public interest 
sure to come with the future, and which we observe has 
already come in the present conjectures, as to the dis- 
position of the railroads. He interpolated an exhaustive 
speech on the bill by Senator Pomerene, of Ohio, with a 
question as to the interpretation of one of the concluding 
clauses of the bill — section 24. This was its language : 

That this article is expressly declared to be emergency legis- 
lation enacted to meet conditions growing out of war; and noth- 
ing herein is to be construed as expressing or prejudicing the 

[138] 



Address of Mr. Booher, of Missouri 

future policy of the Federal Government concerning the owner- 
ship, control, or regulation of carriers or the method or basis 
of the capitalization thereof. 

As he put the question, Senator Stone said: 

I have an apprehension that when wc come out of it we will 
be faced with one or two alternatives, namely, the taking over of 
the railroads into absolute Government ownership, or a capi- 
talization of the railroads in order to protect the vast interests 
involved, and in order that these great transportation lines may 
be conducted with the greatest possible efficiency in the public 
interest. 

The apt question elicited from the distinguished Ohio 
Senator an important response. Observing the presence 
in the committee handling the bill a variety of views, Mr. 
Pomerene said : 

The bill as presented originally provided that Government con- 
trol should continue during the war and until otherwise directed. 
That of itself, in the judgment of some of the members of the 
committee, had a suggestion of continued future Government 
ownership. It is perfectly clear by the enactment of this law the 
Congress would not be committing itself to any of these policies 
which might have been in the minds of Senators. 

And, finally, Mr. Speaker, I would not close this inade- 
quate tribute to the worth of my great friend in his great 
public service without giving another instance of his lofty 
regard for duty. That, too, was but a short time before 
his voice was no longer to be heard among men. I refer 
to that occasion as of profound historic significance and 
one whose meaning is more strikingly evident at this time 
than at any period within our history since the founding 
of our Republic. It was last year, February 21. Refer- 
ence having been had to the method of procedure in the 
Senate on the next day, with the customary reading of 
Washington's Farewell Address, Senator Stone objected 
to any other course than adjournment immediately after 



[139] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Stone 

the reading of the address. Another Senator remarked 
that it was the rule for the Senate on such occasions to 
proceed with ordinary business after such reading. 

The Missouri Senator solemnly advised the Senate that 
it was indulging a " poor compliment " to the greatest of 
all Americans, that then of all times the address should 
be read and pondered anew in all the matchless wisdom 
of its admonitions. Plainly, obviously, he referred to that 
part of Washington's Farewell Address in which he 
warned his fellow countrymen for all time against " the 
insidious wiles of foreign influence," advising them to 
keep the faith of present engagements but to enter upon 
no entangling alliance which would commit us to partici- 
pate in the settlement of Europe's quarrels. 

I believe that when the historic occasion recurs in the 
two Houses this month on the birthday of him wbo gave 
to his people that immortal counsel, millions and millions 
of American people as they note the reading of his words 
again in Congress will stand where Senator Stone stood 
last year, revering Washington and still first in the hearts 
of his countrymen. That reminder by the Missouri Sen- 
ator was a noble climax to a highly honorable and long 
honored career. 



[140] 



Address of Mr. Hamlin, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: Senator Stone was considerably my senior 
in years, but it was my privilege to know bim well for 
about 25 years. I greatly admired his splendid ability and 
his many admirable qualities of mind and heart. I be- 
lieve that he was as nearly unselfish as any man whom I 
have known and who was so long in public position. 

During his active, busy life he held public office about 
26 years, each commission being issued to him as the 
result of the will of his people expressed through the 
ballot. 

He was prosecuting attorney of his county, Representa- 
tive in Congress from his district, governor of his State, 
and United States Senator from Missouri, and which posi- 
tion he held at the time of his death. 

He was politically a militant, but he always fought 
fairly. He never conducted a political trench or subma- 
rine warfare. He went forth to battle in the open, 
panoplied in what he believed was a just cause, and it was 
always a fight to a finish. He neither asked for nor gave 
quarter. 

Like all such characters, he had the most loyal friends 
and the bitterest possible enemies. He bore many scars 
received in battle for the principles of Democracy, to 
which he was thoroughly wedded. His contests were nu- 
merous, but it may be said of him that he never lost a 
battle. In other words, he stood as the candidate of his 
party many times before the people who knew him and 
went to his death without a single defeat. I have heard 
him praised and I have heard him condemned, but I have 
never heard any man question either his courage, his loy- 
alty to a friend, or his integrity. 

He followed faithfully and unerringly the star of De- 
mocracy which Thomas Jefferson hung in the political 

[141] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

firmament. He never apologized for his position or hesi- 
tated to announce his creed upon all proper occasions. A 
few years ago a friend of mine and an ardent admirer of 
the late Senator told me an exceedingly interesting story 
which illustrates the manner of man that he was: 

All Missourians remember distinctly that just before 
the close of the Civil War all persons who were even sus- 
pected of sympathizing with the Southern cause were dis- 
franchised, and I might say, in the minds of the ultra- 
Unionist, to be a Southern sympathizer was equivalent to 
being a Democrat, and under radical rule in Missouri all 
such were disfranchised, but about the year of 1872, in a 
limited way, the restrictions were removed and they were 
permitted to again participate in politics in Missouri. A 
friend told me that at that time down in southwest Mis- 
souri, where the feeling was extraordinarily bitter in 
a county which had theretofore been Democratic, he and 
others concluded to try to reorganize their party for the 
coming campaign. They conceived the idea of having 
an old-fashioned barbecue and announced that it was 
for the purpose of getting all Democrats together and have 
some prominent man of that political faith address them. 
They made the announcement, but were immediately noti- 
fied by the opposition that such a meeting could not be 
pulled off in that county; that no man could come there 
and make a Democratic speech and get away alive. How- 
ever, the committee went on with their arrangements. I 
remember distinctly that he told me that they wrote Gov. 
Phelps, who for 18 years represented a district in Con- 
gress and resigned his seat here to take charge of a regi- 
ment in the Civil War on the side of the Union, but who, 
nevertheless, was an ardent Democrat at all times, and 
was afterwards one of Missouri's great governors, but for 
some reason he declined to come. They then extended 
an invitation to another very prominent citizen of Spring- 



[142] 



Address of Mr. Hamlin, of Missouri 

field, also a gallant Union soldier and Democrat, Capt. 
McAfee, but he, too, declined the invitation. 

The time for their barbecue was drawing near and they 
had promised to have somebody there to make a speech 
and they felt they must make good their promise, and in 
their dilemma some one made the following suggestion: 
" I understand there is a young lawyer over here at 
Nevada by the name of Stone, who is a Democrat and 
who, I am told, makes a splendid speech. Let us invite 
him." It was Hobson's choice — there was nothing else to 
be done, so that was agreed to and the invitation was ac- 
cordingly sent. There were no telephones or telegraph 
lines or railroads, for that matter, through that section of 
the country at that time, but they sent an invitation by 
mail and received a prompt reply, accepting it. The 
committee immediately announced that William Joel 
Stone, of Nevada, would be present and make a speech on 
the occasion of the barbecue. Very promptly they were 
waited upon by a delegation, self-appointed, perhaps, who 
served notice upon them that neither this man or no other 
man, for that matter, could make a Democratic speech on 
that occasion and get away alive. He told me that it was 
the prevailing custom at that time for men to go armed 
continually in that county. Human life was regarded as 
almost worthless. The committee finally became con- 
vinced that these "rough necks" meant just what they 
said, but they did not reach that conclusion until it was 
too late to notify this young lawyer not to come. 

None of them had ever seen Stone. But they knew he 
would have to come across the country in a buggy. And I 
may say here that the place at which he was to speak was 
some 30 or 40 miles from where Senator Stone lived. 
They knew the road he would come in on, and they con- 
cluded to watch for him and meet him at the edge of the 
town and notify him that it would be worth his life to try 



[143] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

to make a speech there on that day, and explain to him 
that he could drive in through and around the town and 
could reach again the road over which he had come and 
go back home, and that then they would announce at the 
proper time that the speaker for some reason did not 
show up. They watched for him and met him when he 
came to town and explained fully the situation to him. 
This crowd of rough necks were there, armed to the teeth 
and " tanked up " on native liquor and swearing that no 
man could make a Democratic speech on that occasion 
and live. My friend said that when they explained the 
matter to Stone and told him that they were sorry not to 
have been able to get him notice not to come, but how he 
could get on through town and back home, inasmuch as 
nobody knew him, none would suspect he had ever been 
there; but he said Stone looked at them for a moment and 
said " Did you not invite me over here to make a speech 
to-day? " " Yes." " Well," he said, " I am here. " But," 
they said, " we can not afford to let you speak. These 
fellows swear they will kill you, and they will." He said, 
" Gentlemen, I was invited to come here to-day to make a 
Democratic speech, and," with an adjective that he usually 
employed under such provocation, said " I am here, and I 
am going to make that speech." " But," they said, " you 
can not afford to make it; it is too dangerous. But if you 
are determined to make a speech here to-day talk about 
something else — other than politics." He said, "I will 
make my own speech." 

This man told me that at the proper time Stone went 
upon the platform and that this crowd that had said he 
should not speak, and who were drunk and armed to the 
teeth, rushed up menacingly in front of him. Stone stood 
and looked at them for a moment and then proceeded to 
denounce them as arrant cowards; told them what he had 
been informed they had threatened to do, and defied them 



[144] 



Address of Mr. Hamlin, of Missouri 



to do their worst. He said : " You have not the courage 
to do what you said you would. I am here to make a 
Democratic speech and, by the eternal, I am going to 
make it." 

My friend told me that he had heard Stone many times 
since make many bitter Democratic speeches, but that he 
had never heard him make one quite so bitter as the one 
he made on this occasion. Those fellows who had said 
that he should not speak and live gradually slunk away, 
one at a time, until every one of them had gone, and when 
Stone had finished there was not one of them in sight. 

I speak of this to show the courage of the man. He was 
not afraid of anything. 

He grew to be wise beyond his day and generation. 
From the time that I first began to take an interest in poli- 
tics he was my political mentor. 

Shortly after he was nominated for governor of his 
State it was my privilege, as a young Democrat, to be one 
of the speakers at a bancpiet given in his honor in my 
city. From that time on, especially, I knew him well. I 
met him in court as opposing counsel after he retired as 
governor. I entered this House for the first time as a 
Member on the same day that he entered the Senate for 
the first time. 

Innumerable times during these years I have gone to 
him for counsel and advice and I never came away empty 
handed. I did not at all times agree with him on all pub- 
lic questions, but I always greatly respected his opinions. 
In his death I lost a friend, our party a great leader, and 
his country 7 an aggressive patriot. May his ashes rest in 
peace. 



115654°— 19^— 10 [145] 



Address of Mr. Hensley, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: We have met here to-day to hear our 
humble tribute to the many excellencies of character 
possessed and service rendered his country by the late 
Senator William Joel Stone during his life. 

The history of Senator Stone and the facts concerning 
his life have been detailed by others more beautifully than 
I can hope to give them. As has been recited, he was born 
in Kentucky and reared in Missouri. He was educated in 
the University of Missouri, graduating from that institu- 
tion, after which time he located in Nevada, Vernon 
County, Mo., for the practice of his profession, that of law. 
I desire here to say that with the great ability possessed 
by Senator Stone, had he continued in his profession 
practicing law with the same energy and continuous effort 
that he put forth in serving the people in public office, he 
would have soon been one of the very leading attorneys at 
the bar in his State and Nation, and he would have 
acquired a goodly share of this world's goods. But he 
chose public office instead, and he early in life was elected 
to the Congress of the United States. After serving here 
in this historic body for six years he retired voluntarily. 
Soon after his retirement from Congress he was nomi- 
nated and elected governor of Missouri, after a very 
spirited fight both for the nomination and the election. As 
governor he never hesitated to take his stand with the 
people and against those desiring special favors at the 
hands of his administration. Assailed many times, yet 
undaunted, he stood as a mountain among small hills, 
like a great oak in the forest, giving no heed to the abuse 
of those who maligned him. The poisoned shafts of the 
slanderer fell broken at his feet. He gave the people of 
the State a fair and honest administration. Going out of 
the governor's office he resumed the practice of law, but 
he soon reentered public life and was elected to represent 

[1461 



Address of Mr. Hensley, of Missouri 



the grand and glorious State of Missouri in the Senate of 
the United States, in which body he was serving his third 
term when stricken unto death. For many years he was 
one of the foremost Democrats and statesmen in our coun- 
try, and in every station in life to which he was called 
he graced it with great ability, courage, and manhood. 
His career was a most brilliant one. 

I am glad to say that I counted Senator Stone as my 
friend; in fact, he was the friend of every worthy indi- 
vidual wherever he happened to be, as well as the friend 
of every worthy enterprise. He was in deed and in truth 
the friend of humanity, for his every act testified to the 
feeling that he bore toward the great body of our people. 
In my judgment, there never lived a man more thor- 
oughly in love with his country and his kind than Sena- 
tor Stone. Patriotic and courageous, a partisan in poli- 
tics in the sense that he believed that parties were neces- 
sary for the perpetuity of our Government and our insti- 
tutions, he was ready and willing at all times, if neces- 
sary, to sacrifice his very political life for his convictions. 
I very well recall, a good many years ago, how he took 
his political life in his hands when he assailed with all 
the vigor he possessed certain corporate interests of Mis- 
souri, because he thought they were insidiously seeking 
to get control of his party. 

True manly courage can not exist without honor and 
integrity; in fact, courage is a child of honor. One can 
not exist without the other. There never was any in- 
quiry as to whether he would stand by his convictions on 
any question, however momentous and however perilous 
to him. We need more of such men. That is the stuff 
out of which martyrs are made. Any person can go with 
the current, but for one to battle against the current, to 
go amidst the frowning, hissing, and jeering crowd who 
are drifting the other way it takes courage and manhood. 



[147] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Stone 

I recall very distinctly one occasion when I was in his 
office, only a few months before he was stricken down. 
We were discussing the course being pursued by another 
person in public life, and I said, " Senator, he is rendering 
a great service to the people, but he will never get any 
credit for it, because the people will not understand it." 
He replied, with emphasis, " My boy, it makes little differ- 
ence whether the people give you credit or not; be true 
and render service, though they may never appreciate it. 
My only thought now, during this hour of my country's 
crisis, is to do my whole duty by my people without re- 
gard to its effect upon me." So I say, Mr. Speaker, that 
the people who go to make up the body of our great and 
glorious country lost a true and noble friend in the death 
of Senator Stone. They lost a friend who did not count 
the cost when it came to serving them. The shells of 
slander and abuse when bursting all around him affected 
his course none whatsoever. He preferred to be right to 
anything else. He never bid for the applause of the truc- 
ulent hirelings of the special interests of the country; and 
if his true worth could be portrayed, his diligent efforts 
in behalf of the people understood, even up to the time 
that he was stricken while riding on a street car here in 
Washington, there would be erected in the minds and 
hearts of the great masses throughout our country a 
monument that would endure as long as courage, as man- 
hood, and as patriotism is prized by man. 

Senator Stone will be missed in Missouri; he will be 
missed in the Nation. The country sustained a loss in 
his death, an irreparable loss. He was one of the most 
human men I ever met, full of humanity, sympathy, and 
love. He was never so busy that he could not give one a 
patient hearing, and he was always ready to render help- 
ful service to the needy one. We all lost a friend when 
Senator Stone died, and his family lost a patient, kind, 
and loving parent and companion. 

[148] 



Address of Mr. Rubey, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker : More than 40 years have passed since the 
Memhers of this House have been assembled to pay a 
tribute of respect to the memory of a Missouri Senator. 
On September 20, 1877, Lewis V. Bogg, then a United 
States Senator, died while serving his first term, and since 
that time no Member of that body from Missouri has died 
while in office until April 14, 1918, when William J. Stone, 
then serving his third term, passed away. Missouri dur- 
ing her little less than 98 years of statehood has had 26 
Senators, 4 of whom have died while in office. Besides 
those already mentioned, Stone and Bogg, the third and 
fourth Senators, Alexander Buckner and Lewis F. Linn, 
passed away while in office. Buckner served only a little 
more than 2 years, while Linn served nearly 15 years. 

I trust that it will not be considered inappropriate if I 
briefly touch upon some facts and incidents of history re- 
lating to the long line of illustrious men who have occu- 
pied seats in the " upper House " from the great Common- 
wealth I have the honor to represent in part in the " lower 
House " of Congress. 

During the early years of her statehood the people gave 
to their Senators long tenure of office. For 35 years she 
was represented by only six men; two of these died in 
office; otherwise the number would have been less. From 
1855 to 1881 no man succeeded himself in office, with the 
single exception of John B. Henderson, who was ap- 
pointed to succeed Trusten Polk in 1862 and who subse- 
quently was elected to fill out his unexpired term and 
reelected for a full term. Henderson's length of service 
was a little over 7 years. During this brief period of 26 
years no less than 15 men occupied seats in the United 
States Senate from Missouri. With the reelection of 
Francis Marion Cockrell in 1881 the people returned to 

[149] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

their former custom of giving long service to the faith- 
ful; and, as if to emphasize that fact, they reelected Sena- 
tor Cockrell four times, giving him 30 years, a record 
equaled only by Thomas H. Benton. To be exact, Senator 
Cockrell's service exceeded that of Thomas H. Benton sev- 
eral months, due to the fact that while Benton was elected 
in 1820 Missouri was not admitted until August 21, 1821. 
The shortest term of service was that of David F. Jewett, 
who was appointed to fdl a vacancy and who served from 
December 19, 1870, to January 21, 1871, a period of one 
month and one day. He had a close second, however, in 
James Shields, who was elected to fill out the unexpired 
term of Lewis V. Bogg and served from January 24, 1879, 
to March 4, 1879, one month and eight days. Only one of 
Missouri's Senators has ever resigned. That was Charles 
D. Drake, who resigned to accept the appointment of chief 
justice of the Court of Claims. Two of our Senators were 
foreign born — Carl Schurz, who was born in Germany, 
and James Shields, who was born in Ireland. Schurz, 
after representing the State in the United States Senate, 
became a member of President Hayes's Cabinet and later 
located in New York City, where he became a very dis- 
tinguished editor and author. Shields had the very great 
distinction of representing three States in the United 
States Senate. First Illinois, then Wisconsin, and, last but 
not least, Missouri. David B. Atchison is the only Mis- 
sourian who has had the distinction of serving as Presi- 
dent of the United States. He was President pro tempore 
of the Senate on Sunday, March 4, 1849; and as Gen. Tay- 
lor was not sworn in until March 5, Atchison for one brief 
day was President of this great Bepublic. 

William J. Stone, in honor of whose memory we meet 
to-day, was the twenty-fourth Senator from Missouri. 
In length of service he was exceeded only by Senators 
Cockrell, Benton, and Vest. Elected in 1903, reelected in 



[150] 



Address of Mr. Rubey, of Missouri 



1909, and again in 1914, the last time by popular vote, he 
was just entering the sixteenth year of service at the time 
of his death. 

The old State of Kentucky has been very generous to 
Missouri. She has furnished us with some of our most 
distinguished citizens, among them Senator Stone. He 
came to the State early in life and was educated there, 
graduating from the university at Columbia. Every offi- 
cial position he ever occupied came to him as the result 
of the confidence and esteem in which he was held by 
Missourians — prosecuting attorney, Member of the House 
of Representatives, governor, United States Senator. Re- 
markable career, one of which any man might well be 
proud. In every position, from county attorney to the 
exalted position of United States Senator, he served his 
people with fidelity and distinction. Of all Missouri's 
distinguished governors, Senator Stone is the only one 
ever elected to the United States Senate after serving a 
full term as governor. Trusten Polk was inaugurated 
governor and in a few days was elected to the Senate, 
while R. Gratz Rrown was elected governor after having 
first served in the United States Senate. 

My acquaintance with Senator Stone began in 1892, 
when he made his memorable campaign for governor of 
Missouri. His opponent in that race, Hon. William War- 
ner, attacked the record of the Democrats and selected as 
his slogan " Poor old Missouri." Mr. Stone accepted the 
challenge, defended the Democratic record in Missouri, 
took as his watchword " Grand old Missouri," and from 
one end of the State to the other proclaimed the greatness 
and the glory of that splendid Commonwealth, of which 
some one lias written: 

The winds of heaven never fanned, 
The sparkling sunlight never spanned, 
The borders of a better land 
Than this our own Missouri land. 



[151] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

That remarkable campaign of 1892 added to the luster 
of Stone as an orator, won for him the governorship, 
firmly established him in the affections of his people, and 
eventually made him United States Senator. 

In his political speeches Senator Stone was unselfish; 
he always talked for the " other fellows " rather than for 
himself. In every campaign he ever waged he never lost 
sight of his associates on the Democratic ticket, and each 
one of them received from him strong words of praise and 
commendation. No man I have ever known was truer to 
his friends than he. He firmly believed in and faithfully 
practiced the sentiment — 

The friends thou hast and their adoption tried, 
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel; 
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 
Of each new-hatched unfledged comrade. 

Of Senator Stone it may be truly said, " He died in 
harness." On the way to the Capitol, where he was to 
have made a speech in the Senate, he was stricken. He 
lingered in a semiconscious state only a few days. Once 
in a while he would revive, and in those moments he 
would insist that he must go to the Senate, that he was 
expected to speak, and that he must be there ready to do 
his duty. 

He died, I am sure, as he would have desired could he 
have been consulted. There was no long and lingering 
sickness full of pain and consequent suffering of sympa- 
thizing loved ones powerless to give relief. On the con- 
trary, after an illness of only a few days, surrounded by 
his devoted wife, son, and daughters, lie peacefully 
breathed his last and passed to the great beyond. That his 
going brought sincere sorrow and mourning to the great 
hosts of faithful friends was manifest on the return of the 
body to Missouri. From the time the funeral train crossed 
the Father of Waters — the Mississippi River — and reached 

[152] 



Address of Mr. Rubey, of Missouri 



Missouri soil until the very end of the journey, at every 
place where a stop was made the train was met hy vast 
crowds of people. At St. Louis, the first stop, that great, 
magnificent station could not begin to accommodate the 
friends who were there to pay their tribute of respect. 
The vast throng lined up on either side of the long plat- 
form and stood with bowed and uncovered heads as the 
body was borne from the train. Tears flowed down their 
cheeks, giving mute and unmistakable evidence of the 
sadness which filled their hearts. The next stop was made 
at Jefferson City, the State capital, where the body lay in 
state in the rotunda of that magnificent new statehouse so 
recently erected upon the bluff of the Missouri River. On 
this historic spot had stood the old capitol building in 
which for four years Senator Stone had served as gover- 
nor. The new capitol, erected at a cost of nearly $4,000,000 
to replace the old one destroyed by fire a few years ago, 
was just being completed, and Senator Stone's body was 
the first of Missouri's distinguished dead to lie in state 
there. The casket containing his remains was placed in 
the great rotunda, in the recess formed by the great wind- 
ing stairways leading to the floors and galleries above. It 
was banked with the most beautiful array of flowers I 
have ever looked upon — tokens of love, affection, and es- 
teem sent from far and near. All day long there was a 
constant stream of people passing the bier of Missouri's 
distinguished Senator. They came from everywhere; 
nearly every county was represented. Old men, with the 
weight of years showing in their tottering footsteps and 
their whitened hair, paused and looked upon the face of 
the dead, wiped the tears from their eyes, and with sad- 
dened countenances and throbbing hearts passed on. 
These were the friends of other days — men who had 
known him, honored him, and stood by him in the days 
gone by, and who now came to look for the last time upon 



[153] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

the face of their friend and pay to him this last mark 
of their affection and esteem for him. Men and women 
passed by the thousands. The children came from the 
public schools; the business men closed their doors and 
came to pay honorable tribute to the dead. No one who 
viewed this truly wonderful scene at Jefferson City can 
for a moment doubt the esteem and love of the people of 
Missouri for this man who had served them in the three- 
fold capacities of Congressman, governor, and United 
States Senator. 

The funeral train left the capital at night, arriving at 
Nevada, Mo., early the following morning. Here again we 
were met by vast crowds of people who came from the sur- 
rounding counties. This was the old home of Senator 
Stone. Here it was he began his political career. Here it 
was we were to meet his old-time friends, those who had 
known him from his early manhood. The manifestations 
of sincere grief and sorrow shown both at the funeral and 
at the grave told the story of their affection for this dis- 
tinguished man far more eloquently than it can possibly 
be related by me. Home! He was back home again; he 
had taken his last earthly journey and had come back to 
make his final resting place near his old home. We laid 
him to rest in the beautiful cemetery at Nevada. There 
in the silent city of the dead he rests to-day, surrounded 
by friends and loved ones who have gone before and 
where he will be joined in the days to come by other 
loved ones and other friends who must so surely follow. 

The body of William J. Stone, all that is mortal of him, 
lies out there in that cemetery; the grass will grow green 
above his grave, the flowers will bloom, the birds will sing 
their carols in the trees; friends and relatives will come to 
visit that grave, to spread flowers upon it, and to water 
them with their tears; in lime, no doubt, friends and 
admirers will erect a suitable monument, so that future 



[154] 



Address of Mr. Rubey, of Missouri 



generations may know that the body of a distinguished 
statesman and citizen lies buried there. William J. Stone 
is not there; his immortal spirit took its flight when the 
breath left the body. He has gone to meet his reward in 
the great beyond. On that bright day in April, nearly a 
year ago, his immortal spirit winged its flight — 

To that mysterious bourn 
From which no traveler returns. 

And to friends and loved ones who put their trust in 
Him " Who doeth all things well " there comes that sweet 
consolation: 

We'll meet thee and we'll greet thee 

On the never ending shore; 
We'll dwell with thee in glory, 

To be parted nevermore. 



[155] 



Address of Mr. Igoe, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: My personal and intimate relationship 
with Senator Stone began only with my election to Con- 
gress. When I took my seat here in March, 1913, I had 
known him only in a general way and by reputation, as 
everyone in Missouri had known him up until that time. 

I think the outstanding tilings in his character were his 
courage and his honesty. He rendered great service as a 
Member of this House, as governor of the State of Mis- 
souri, as Senator, and also in private life. 

Members have spoken of his courage, and there is one 
thing I recall as a boy that he did in Missouri, that re- 
quired as much courage as was ever displayed by a public 
man at any time, and that was when, in the State of Mis- 
souri, some people undertook to set up a sort of religious 
persecution. It took courage for a man in public life to 
denounce it, but Senator Stone had no hesitation what- 
ever in going from one end of the State to the other de- 
nouncing the movement as un-American, unfair, and a 
disgrace to the State. 

There is no man, in my judgment, in the Democratic 
Party who is entitled to more credit for the success of the 
legislative program of the Democratic Party in Congress 
since 1913 than Senator Stone. He was a leader and a 
worker. He worked day and night as a member of com- 
mittees of the Senate and he labored with the members 
of his party. He worked to make a record for the admin- 
istration and cany out the promises that his party had 
made. He fought for his party; he believed in his party; 
and he fought for it because he thought it was an instru- 
mentality through which the wishes of the majority of 
the people might best be carried out, and thus preserve 
the Government which we all love. 



[156] 



Address of Mr. Igoe, of Missouri 



There are very few people, outside of Members of Con- 
gress who served with him, who know how devoted Sena- 
tor Stone was to the duties of his office. He did not spare 
himself, and though at times in recent years his health 
was impaired he did not slacken his efforts, but devoted 
his entire time to legislative matters, working far into the 
night. No one who came to his office for advice or assist- 
ance was turned away and all were made to feel welcome. 
It was marvelous how a man so busy could find time to 
receive so many callers and give them his aid in satisfying 
their wants. 

I had occasion many times in the last few years of his 
life to go to him for advice and assistance and talked to 
him in confidence when these great issues came upon us. 
Immediately preceding the war and the declaration of 
war itself I had occasion to meet him and to discuss mat- 
ters with him. He never undertook, in my judgment, to 
lead any man along any course nor did he undertake to 
persuade them from doing what they conceived to be right 
and proper, and in all the criticisms that have been 
visited upon him for the course that he took it seems to 
me that the men who are most bitter never did understand 
the greatness of his character nor the greatness of his love 
of his country. There is no man who ever served in this 
Congress who had a greater love for his country than did 
Senator Stone. Mr. Speaker, I hope that in the time to 
come that he will be remembered for what he was, a great 
American, a great Senator, a courageous man, and one 
who wished to serve the people who were generous 
enough to select him to speak for them. Mr. Speaker, we 
have lost a friend and the Nation has lost an able, honest, 
and courageous statesman. 



[157] 



Address of Mr. Kndtson, of Minnesota 

Mr. Speaker: It was not my privilege to know the late 
Senator Stone intimately, but for years I had been an 
admirer of his strong and fearless personality, having 
read much of him in the press and in congressional pro- 
ceedings, and anyone who has followed the career of that 
strong and forceful man can not but feel that in his 
death the whole Nation, as well as the State of Missouri, 
has lost a public servant who could be illy spared at this 
time. Rugged and honest, he was a type of man that is 
all too uncommon in these trying times. I do not believe 
that he ever stopped to think of personal consequences 
when he took up cudgels for a cause which he believed to 
be right. With the light of battle in his eyes he would 
go into the fray without hesitation and without fear, 
thoroughly armed with facts which were in the main in- 
controvertible. I have seen him stand as a lion at bay in 
the Senate of the United States hurling defiance at his 
opponents, striking right and left without regard to any- 
thing but the cause of truth and justice. Big hearted and 
loyal to his friends, it was inevitable that they should be 
legion and his enemies not a few. In the heat of battle 
he would throw aside the garb of partisanship and stand 
erect in the forensic arena dealing blows that struck 
home. He despised cant and hypocrisy; he detested false- 
hood and deceit. During the last few years of his life he 
shone with exceptional luster. He often disagreed with 
the lines of policy laid down by the titular head of his 
party, and we all recognize that it takes courage of the 
highest order to disagree politically with those who hold 
the destinies of others in the hollow of their hand. When 
he died the great and silent people of this country lost a 
stanch friend and faithful servant. 



[158] 



Address of Mr. Knutson, of Minnesota 

Missouri has been singularly fortunate in her represen- 
tation in the Congress of the United States — Thomas H. 
Benton, Champ Clark, and many, many others, living and 
dead, whom I might mention. All have served her faith- 
fully and well — none more so than William J. Stone, pa- 
triot, statesman, and friend and champion of the common 
people. 



[159] 



Address of Mr. Decker, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: I desire to pay my tribute, with the rest 
of my colleagues, to that great Missourian whom we all 
honored and whom we all loved, Senator Stone. It would 
be almost impertinent for me to try to analyze his char- 
acter and his history, because he was in public life as long 
or longer than I have been in this world. His career in 
public life began about the time that I was born. I did 
not know him when he was a Representative in Congress 
from the district which I have the honor now to represent. 
I did not know him when he was governor of Missouri. 
I am not familiar personally with all the storms and con- 
tests in Missouri through which he passed. My first 
acquaintance with him which could in truthfulness be 
called intimate began after my election to this high body. 

To speak of his ability is unnecessary. It has never been 
disputed; it has never been questioned, either in Missouri 
or in the United States. But I do want to speak of the 
thing which to me stands out preeminently above every 
other characteristic which this great man possessed. 
Champ Clark, the beloved Missourian, has said that — 

No man is fit to be a lawgiver for a mighty nation who yields to 
the demands and solicitations of the few who may have access 
to his ear but is unmindful of the vast multitude who may never 
hear his voice or look into his face. 

When the things which Champ Clark has said on his- 
tory, when the things said about him as the beloved 
Speaker of this House and leader of Democracy have been 
forgotten, that one utterance of his, in my humble opinion, 
will make him live in history. For it is as true to-day, as 
it has always been, that the pen is mightier than the sword. 
No man is fit to be a lawgiver of a mighty nation who 



[160] 



Address of Mr. Decker, of Missouri 

yields to the demands and solicitations of the few who 
may have access to his ear hut is unmindful of the vast 
multitude who may never hear his voice or look into his 
face. In that brief sentence you find the guiding star of 
Missouri's great Senator, William Joel Stone. 

And why avoid the question? We are all friends here 
to-day, are we not? You know to-day when you mention 
the name of Senator Stone you do not think of him as 
Representative, you do not think of him as prosecuting 
attorney of one of the great counties of my district, you 
do not think of him as governor, you do not think of him 
as Senator; you think of him and the part he played in 
the great struggle of all the world that has just heen 
brought to a termination. This is not the time nor place 
to discuss whether Senator Stone was right or wrong. 
But to me it would be a mockery, to me it would be a 
sham, if I stood here in this great legislative Hall to-day 
and was silent as to the great part he played in that titanic 
struggle. The majority will say that he was wrong. Let 
him who can weigh the value of a human life and a human 
career and then multiply it by 50,000 — to say nothing of 
the courses which lie ahead of our great Nation — let him 
who can measure human life say, with dogmatic and arro- 
gant authority, that our great Senator from Missouri was 
wrong. But whether or not you can say in your heart 
that he was wrong in what he did, you can not deny that 
he thought he was right; and in this solemn hour when his 
colleagues in public life pay tribute to his memory I dare 
to stand and resent to all the world the slander, the villifi- 
cation, the abuse that was heaped upon him from the 
public press and from the rostrum and from the pulpit of 
my country for doing with courage the things that he 
thought were right. 

I pay tribute to the men who followed the different 
course, which they thought right. It took courage for 

115fi54°— 19 11 H61] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

them to do different from what Senator Stone thought 
should be done. But in this solemn hour when we pay 
tribute to this great man, who sleeps the last long sleep 
in the peaceful country churchyard in the district which 
I have the honor to represent, I dare to proclaim anew the 
doctrine that any man who sits in the Senate of the 
United States from Missouri and does not on every ques- 
tion, especially the vital question of peace or war, do what 
he thinks is right is a traitor to Missouri and is unworthy 
of the senatorial toga of that great State. 

And so it was that in the last hours of his eventful life, 
with the marks of age taking hold of him, when his feet 
were close to the river's brink, his heart became more 
mellow, his feelings for those who opposed him more 
gentle, his infinite patience and kindness to his fellow 
men, as it seemed to me, increased. But, thanks be to 
God, who giveth the victory, there was no diminution of 
his lionlike courage and of his ability to fight for what 
he thought was good for old Missouri and for the people, 
high or humble, of the United States. He went down as 
a true Senator from Missouri — went down not with 
feebleness, not with faltering, but with the courage of a 
man who realizes the dignity of his office and the solem- 
nity of the responsibilities imposed upon him. 

Sleep on, brave Senator from Missouri ! You followed 
the even tenor of your way in the last hours of your life, 
when I knew you well. You followed it imperturbed by 
the tempests of prejudice and passion which raged about 
you, unshaken by the storm of villification and abuse that 
beat over your aged head. Your heart to the very last 
was kindly and loving and affectionate for the people of 
Missouri and the people of the world, and even for those 
who abused and misunderstood you. 

History will be written some day. How high a place 
you will have on that page I do not know, brave Senator 

ri62] 



Address of Mk. Decker, of Missouri 

from Missouri. But this I do know: That when the storms 
of misrepresentation, when the blasts of prejudice and 
misunderstanding, have passed and gone, the people of 
Missouri and the people of this country will pay just 
appreciation to you as a great man who in the last hours 
of his life lived up to Missouri's traditions and did what 
he thought was right. 



I1C31 



Address of Mr. Romjde, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: There has been so much said this after- 
noon in memory of Senator Stone, of Missouri, and it has 
been so well said that I feel impelled not to speak at 
length. 

When we consider the life and character of Senator 
William Joel Stone, of Missouri, we find ourselves at- 
tracted to those elements within him which marked him 
as a man, a citizen, and a statesman of unusual propor- 
tions. 

In what I shall say to you this afternoon in his memory 
will not be said with any pretense or claim to his perfec- 
tion, for he, like you and I and all of us, was human. 

But on the 14th day of April last, when the last spark 
of life, so far as this world is concerned, expired or took 
its flight from his bosom, there was stilled forever upon 
the stage of worldly affairs a heart, a brain, a body which 
had throbbed and thought and worked for his fellow man. 

I shall never forget the time when I first saw and heard 
Senator Stone. It was during his campaign for governor 
of Missouri. I was a boy in my teens. 

A big political meeting was held in the county seat of 
my home county of Macon. The day was designated as 
the three governors' day. Gov. Horace Boies, the then 
Democratic governor of Iowa, was there; Hon. David R. 
Francis, then governor of Missouri, was there; and Sen- 
ator Stone, then an aspirant for the governorship of Mis- 
souri, was in attendance. 

It was a clear, bright day. The political contest between 
Senator Stone and Maj. William Warner was getting at 
fever heat. 

This campaign took place at a time when partisanship 
ran higher than it does to-day in political contests. 



[164] 



Address of Mr. Romjue, of Missouri 

It was a time when the Democrats and Republicans of 
Missouri followed with intense enthusiasm the leadership 
of their party candidates. The people were intensely in- 
terested in the issue of the campaign and in the success of 
their chosen party leader. 

In the early forenoon thousands of people, coming for 
many miles, had assembled. It was uncpiestionably the 
greatest political gathering that had ever been held before 
or after that day in that county. 

Political badgering often took place in campaigns of 
that time. 

Senator Stone had just reached the climax in a master- 
ful speech, enunciating and defending the principles and 
issues upon which his party was waging the campaign, 
which issues, from his party's standpoint, had just shortly 
prior in this community been assailed by his political op- 
ponent, Maj. Warner. 

The meeting of the issue by Senator Stone was received 
with such unanimous and generous approval of the audi- 
ence that it rankled in the breast of one listener, who was 
almost alone of his kind. 

This man arose in the midst of the audience and began 
to announce Ins faith in the political party to which 
Senator Stone was opposed. It was apparent at once 
that the fellow was intoxicated, for which no one was re- 
sponsible except the man himself and those who had 
manufactured and sold the beverage to him. Addressing 
Senator Stone, he said: 

I recall from the Good Book that it is written that at a very 
important time and a very important place a celestial rolled 
" The stone away." On election day I propose to help Maj. 
Warner roll "A stone away." 

Senator Stone cmickly seized the situation and said: 
" My good friend, you will have to take more of ' War- 
ner's Safe Cure ' before you will be able to roll this Stone 
away." 

[165] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

Of course the retort, as might be expected under the 
circumstances, was received by the vast audience quite 
naturally. 

I desire to say this of Senator Stone: In his prime, 
when he was at that period of life when his body was 
much stronger than it was in the latter days of his life, I 
do not hesitate to say that for political vision and fore- 
sight he was not excelled anywhere throughout the entire 
United States. Senator Stone had a combination of com- 
bativeness and a tact for conciliation rarely found in any 
man. It has been told to you this afternoon how fearless 
Senator Stone was. Such is true, yet he was always ready 
to conciliate, always ready to lend his influence for the 
purpose of bringing factions in his party together. He 
was always ready to do any conciliatory act that he could 
do which would not abrogate principle. That he would 
not do. Senator Stone was more viciously fought, per- 
haps, than any other man in political life in Missouri 
within my memory. 

From what you have heard of him this afternoon you 
will observe that Senator Stone was fearless, that he 
would fight, that he was courageous, that he would stand 
first for those things which he believed to be right, and 
by reason of his great political foresight he soon became 
what you might term the party leader in our State. 
Democrats from all over the State would flock to him to 
seek his counsel. It became apparent to the opposition 
party that in order that they might overcome the influ- 
ence of the success of the Democratic Party in our State 
it was necessary to destroy Senator Stone, who in the 
earlier days, of course, had been our governor, and all 
of the metropolitan press of that State which were in- 
terested in the party which was opposed to Senator Stone 
began at once to turn their vituperation and attacks 
toward him. These were constantly directed toward him. 



[166] 



Address of Mr. Romjue, of Missouri 



Senator Stone, as I have detailed, was always ready to 
accept the gauge of battle, and he met the issue fairly 
and squarely. He would not be controlled by the metro- 
politan press of his own party when he believed them 
wrong. He refused to be dictated to by them. This called 
upon him opposition from some of the leading papers 
even of his own party, but Senator Stone had that deter- 
mination and that vision which is not always found in 
men of public life; that is, he was not willing to subordi- 
nate his future prospects to the power of any metropoli- 
tan press in his State when they disagreed and he felt 
he was right. So he went out and openly defied the press 
of his State when they wrongly attacked him, and the 
people came to his rescue and the country press through- 
out the State came to his rescue, and they were never able 
to accomplish his political destruction. I was one of 
those who were in the funeral party, and I shall never 
forget when we arrived at Nevada, Mo., Senator Stone's 
old home town. We stepped off the train very shortly 
after daylight and the people were at that time beginning 
to come into the town. 

As I walked a few yards away from the car in which our 
delegation was located I observed an old gentleman, per- 
haps about 6 feet tall. He was dressed very plainly. He 
was tall and erect, and in his face you could see there was 
sorrow. I said to a Member of the Missouri delegation 
who was with me, "Do you see that gentleman? Think- 
ing of him here at this early hour in the day, would you 
give me an analysis of that man as you read him? " He 
looked at him for a moment, and he said, " I have no 
doubt he is one of Senator Stone's most faithful friends. 
He has doubtless come many miles in order that he might 
be here to pay his last respects to the memory of his 
friend. I said to my colleague, "Let's go to him and 
meet him." 



[167] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Stone 

We did, and introduced ourselves. I asked him if he 
lived in that town or near by. He said, " I live on a farm 
15 miles away." I asked, " Did you come in this morn- 
ing? " He said, " I did. I rose at 4 o'clock, in order that I 
might get in here as early as possible." " I presume," said 
I, " that you are a friend of Senator Stone?" He said, 
" I am. I voted for him the first time he ever ran for 
prosecuting attorney. I knew him. He lived among us. 
I supported him in every political campaign from that day 
down to his death, and had he lived to become a candidate 
again I would have been found standing as loyally and 
faithfully by him as I ever had in the past. We people 
feel that we have lost our best friend. We have lost a 
man whom,, although we might sometimes and on some 
matters differ with him, we have always found sincere, 
honest, and true to his friends." 

I am sure, gentlemen, that those who were in that fu- 
neral party on that day, and who had the opportunity of 
seeing the vast crowd of people assembled to witness the 
last sad rites over the remains of Senator Stone, could 
reach no other conclusion than that he still lives in the 
hearts of Missourians and in the hearts of his friends. 

Mr. Hamlin. Mr. Speaker, I desire to announce that one 
of the closest personal and political friends of the late 
Senator Stone is prevented from being present to-day on 
account of sickness; in fact, he is not in the city. I refer 
to our colleague Mr. Booher, and I ask unanimous con- 
sent that he may have the privilege of extending his re- 
marks in the Record. 

The Speaker pro tempore. Is there objection to the re- 
quest of the gentleman from Missouri? [After a pause.] 
The Chair hears none. 

Mr. Rucker. Mr. Speaker, in order to avoid confusion, 
I ask unanimous consent now that each of the Missouri 



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Proceedings in the House 



delegation, several of whom can not be here to-day, being 
kept away on account of sickness, be permitted to extend 
their remarks in the Record, as well as other Members 
who desired to be here, but can not be here to-day, be 
also permitted to extend their remarks in the Record, and 
also that the same may apply to all gentlemen who speak. 

The Speaker pro tempore. Is there objection to the re- 
quest of the gentleman from Missouri? [After a pause.] 
The Chair hears none. 

Then, in accordance with the resolution heretofore 
adopted, the House (at 3 o'clock and 35 minutes p. m.) 
adjourned until Monday, February 3, 1919, at 11 o'clock 
a. m. 

Monday, February 3, 1919. 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Waldorf, its enroll- 
ing clerk, announced that the Senate had passed the fol- 
lowing resolutions: 

Resolved, That the Senate assembles as a mark of respect to the 
memory of Hon. William Joel Stone, late a Senator from the 
State of Missouri, in pursuance of an order heretofore made, to 
enable his associates to pay proper tribute to his high character 
and distinguished public services. 

Resolved, That the Senate again expresses its profound sorrow 
at the death of the late Senator from Missouri. 

Resolved, That the Secretary transmit a copy of these resolu- 
tions to the House of Representatives and to the family of the 
deceased. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 



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